Clinical Anti-plaque Efficacy of a 0.1% CPC Mouthrinse

Objective:

This research compared the anti-plaque effects of a 0.1% cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) rinse to positive and negative rinse controls in a brushing, 4-day plaque model.

Method: This randomized, double-blind clinical trial compared anti-plaque efficacy of an alcohol-free 0. 1% CPC rinse containing 1.5% hydrogen peroxide (Crest® Pro-Health Clinical) (CP) to negative (water - WA) and positive controls (essential oils rinse (EO) containing 21.6% alcohol (Listerine® Cool Mint)).  The 4-day model utilized a 3-treatment, 3-period, cross-over design, where subjects’ teeth were cleaned 1 week prior to study initiation and polished at the beginning of each treatment period. Plaque was evaluated using the Turesky modification of the Quigley-Hein plaque index at Baseline and Day 4. Subjects performed their assigned treatment regimen twice daily for four days at home. Following each brushing, subjects rinsed for 30 sec with 20 ml of assigned treatment. Plaque scores were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for crossover studies, and statistical comparisons were two-sided, with a significance level of 0.05.

Result: Thirty subjects were randomized to treatments and 28 subjects completed the study. At Day 4, both the CP and EO rinses showed significant reductions in overnight plaque versus WA.  Adjusted means were 37.1% (p < 0.001) and 23.4% (p < 0.001) lower than that of WA, respectively.  In addition, the difference in overnight plaque between the CP and EO rinses was also statistically significant (p<0.001) with the CP rinse 17.8% lower than the EO rinse.

Conclusion:

This study demonstrated that the alcohol-free 0.1% CPC rinse with 1.5% hydrogen peroxide was significantly better at controlling dental plaque following a dental polishing relative to both negative and positive controls in a 4-day plaque model.