New perspectives on Sanguinaria clinicals: individual toothpaste and oral rinse testing.

Clinical studies conducted since 1983 on oral care products containing sanguinaria extract have yielded a variety of results. A careful review of these trials suggests that the designs used to conduct many of these trials may have had affected the study outcomes. Review of these trials suggests that studies testing the efficacy of anti-plaque products exercise the following guidelines: 1) use parallel instead of crossover designs, 2) select appropriate study populations, 3) use sufficient numbers of subjects to ensure statistical power, 4) select appropriate controls, 5) ensure intra- or inter-rater reliability prior to the start of the study, and 6) use proper statistical methodology. This review was undertaken to provide perspective into the results of these early studies, and furnish the rationale for the planning of subsequent clinical testing of sanguinaria-containing products.