The effect of sodium lauryl sulphate, triclosan and zinc on the permeability of normal oral mucosa

OBJECTIVE: Sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), an important component in many ora l health products, is well established as a contact irritant in skin. Recen t studies have suggested that it may also affect the structural integrity o f oral mucosa, SLS is rarely used alone in dentifrices or mouthwashes and t he aim of this study was to establish the effect of SLS both alone and in c ombination with Triclosan (TCN) and zinc (Zn) on the permeability barrier p roperties of normal human oral mucosa. METHOD: Ventral tongue mucosa was obtained from nine males and seven female s within 60 h of death and stored frozen at -70 degrees C until use. The pe rmeability of the tissue to tritiated water was measured after pretreatment for 15 min with SLS alone, SLS/TCN, SLS/Zn and a SLS/TCN/Zn mixture. Treat ment with distilled water (DW) sewed as control, The histological appearanc e of the tissue before and after treatment was also examined by light micro scopy. RESULTS: SLS treatment caused a significant increase in water permeability compared to control tissue (Kp = 11.7 +/- 1.00; 4.96 +/- 0.50 respectively; P < 0.005). Treatment with a SLS/TCN/Zn mixture, however, had no effect on the permeability to water (Kp = 5.5 +/- 0.56). Histological examination re vealed that tissue exposed to SLS had a marked disruption of the epithelial surface whilst tissue treated with a SLS/TCN/Zn mixture was indistinguisha ble from controls. CONCLUSION: Although mucosa exposed to SLS atone showed an increase in perm eability to water, the addition of TCN and Zn to SLS appeared to prevent th is effect. As SLS is included in some dental products to solubilise compoun ds such as TCN, its presence may have no effect on the permeability barrier property of oral mucosa.