Effectiveness of a mouthrinse containing active ingredients in addition to chlorhexidine and triclosan compared with chlorhexidine and triclosan rinses on plaque, gingivitis, supragingival calculus and extrinsic staining.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness of three different mouthrinses--chlorhexidine, triclosan + sodium fluoride and chlorhexidine + triclosan + sodium fluoride + zinc chloride--on plaque, calculus, gingivitis and stains and to evaluate the occurrence of adverse effects with these three treatments.

METHODS: Forty-eight healthy subjects participated in a double-blind, randomized, parallel experiment and were randomly allocated to any one of the three experimental mouthrinses: group A (0.2% chlorhexidine (CHX) gluconate), group B (0.03% triclosan + 0.025% sodium fluoride (NaF) + 12% ethyl alcohol) or group C (0.2% CHX + 0.3% triclosan + 0.3% NaF + 0.09% Zn chloride (ZnCl(2)). All the subjects were assessed for gingivitis, plaque, supragingival calculus and extrinsic stains at baseline and at the end of the 21-day experimental period.

RESULTS: There was a significant difference (P = 0.046) in the effectiveness for the prevention of gingivitis and plaque, with subjects of group A and group C presenting least and highest gingival and plaque scores, respectively. Significant differences (P = 0.03) were observed for the accumulation of supragingival calculus where the deposition of calculus in group A was nearly double that of the group B, and group B was most effective in the prevention of supragingival calculus. Highest deposition of extrinsic stains was in the group A followed by group C and group B. There was no significant difference between the three treatments for adverse events' occurrence.

CONCLUSIONS: CHX mouthrinse was most effective in controlling plaque and gingivitis but caused greatest deposition of extrinsic stains. Supragingival calculus deposition was least in triclosan + NaF group followed by CHX + triclosan + NaF + ZnCl(2) and CHX. More than half of the subjects reported adverse events during the experimental phase.