The clinical and microbiological effects of a novel acidified sodium chlorite mouthrinse on oral bacterial mucosal infections

Acidified sodium chlorite mouthrinses have been shown to have equivalent an ti-plaque activity to those containing chlorhexidine, the current 'gold sta ndard'. In this study, sodium chlorite mouthrinses (ASC) acidified with eit her malic or gluconic acids were compared to each other and with a chlorhex idine rinse and sterile water for their effect on salivary bacterial counts . Sixteen subjects participated in the study, which had a cross-over Latin square design. In a second study, a sodium chlorite/ gluconic acid rinse wa s compared with chlorhexidine for its clinical and microbiological effects in 36 patients with oral mucosal infections. The sodium chlorite rinses aci dified with malic and gluconic acids and the chlorhexidine rinse caused sig nificant reductions in salivary bacterial counts up to 7 h after a single r inse compared with water. There were no significant differences between the three active treatments. In the mucosal infection study, there was a signi ficant reduction in erythema in the chlorhexidine group compared with the A SC group. Patients who received the ASC rinse reported significantly less d iscomfort following treatment than those receiving the chlorhexidine rinse. Staphylococcus aureus counts were significantly reduced in the group who r eceived the sodium chlorite rinse. There were no other significant differen ces between the treatments. ASC appears to be an effective alternative to c hlorhexidine mouthrinse.