Reductions in clinical inflammation and oral neutrophils with improving oral hygiene

Objective This study compared the effects of oral hygiene with a toothpaste formulated with zinc (test) to a fluoride dentifrice (control) for effects on oral polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) as a measure of whole mouth inflammation along with effects on clinical parameters of dental plaque and gingivitis. Materials and methods Adults (age range 18-60 years, n = 212) completed this double-blind, parallel design study. After washout, a baseline oral rinse sample was evaluated for PMN prior to clinical assessments for gingivitis and dental plaque. Subjects were randomly assigned to brush twice daily with either the test or the control toothpaste. Post-treatment evaluations repeated all baseline assessments after 4-week, 6-week and 12-week use of dentifrice with all assessments conducted 12 hours after brushing. Results PMN reductions in the test were 16.8%, 18.7% and 42.5% at the 4-week, 6-week and 12-week evaluations respectively and significantly different from the control (p < 0.05). The test toothpaste also demonstrated progressively increasing reductions in gingivitis and dental plaque that ranged from 7.6 to 33.3% and 2.3 to 9.1% respectively versus the control (p < 0.05). Conclusions The test dentifrice demonstrated progressive reductions in oral PMN representing whole mouth inflammation in conjunction with improvements in oral hygiene as compared to the control toothpaste.

Automated summary

The toothpaste formulated with zinc showed significant reductions in oral PMN levels and improvements in gingivitis and dental plaque in comparison to the fluoride dentifrice control. The effects were progressive over the 12-week study period, demonstrating the effectiveness of the zinc toothpaste in reducing whole mouth inflammation and promoting oral hygiene.