The effect of triclosan, stannous fluoride and chlorhexidine products on: (I) Plaque regrowth over a 4-day period.

A number of substances have been incorporated into toothpastes or gels to inhibit plaque regrowth. The aim of this study was to evaluate triclosan and stannous fluoride products for plaque inhibitory properties by comparison with a chlorhexidine or saline rinse and a control product which was a conventional commercially available toothpaste. In a blind 8 cell cross-over study, 15 volunteers rinsed 2 x a day for 4 days with slurries of the products or the saline and chlorhexidine solutions. No other form of oral hygiene was performed and plaque regrowth from a zero baseline was recorded by plaque score and plaque area. Plaque regrowth was significantly less with the chlorhexidine rinse and significantly greater with the saline rinse compared to the toothpaste and gel products. No significant differences were found between the test and control products. The results again demonstrate that commercially available toothpastes have plaque inhibitory effects which so far appear difficult to improve upon by the addition of specific ingredients, in this case stannous fluoride or triclosan. Commercially available products of known activity would appear useful benchmarks for comparison of experimental formulations.