Baking Soda Dentifrices Enhance Plaque Removal by Brushing

Objective: To evaluate dentifrices containing baking soda for enhancing plaque removal in comparison to other dentifrices without baking soda.

Method: Two independent, double-blind, single-brushing, crossover clinical studies were conducted using adult subjects with 24-hour plaque accumulation. Plaque was assessed by a different examiner in each study using the Turesky Modified Quigley-Hein Index before and after a single, 60-sec, supervised brushing with a manual toothbrush and dentifrice (1.5 gm). Washout periods of 3 days using a regular dentifrice separated each treatment. Dentifrice treatments were: Study #1 - 65% baking soda (BS) vs. NaF/Silica (FS); Study #2 - 20% BS vs. triclosan/copolymer (TC). Between-product comparisons were made using post-ANCOVA t-tests.

Results: Pre-brushing mean plaque scores for both groups in each study were comparable. Whole-mouth, pre- to post-brushing plaque score reductions (Mean±SD) are summarized below:

	N	65% BS	20% BS	FS	TC	Significance
Study #1	36	0.80 ± 0.31	---	0.47 ± 0.23	---	p<0.00001
Study #2	41	---	1.07 ± 0.38	---	0.87 ± 0.37	p<0.0014

Baking soda dentifrices showed significantly greater reductions in mean, whole-mouth, plaque scores as compared to silica-based dentifrices without baking soda following a single brushing. Similar results were obtained when different tooth sites and surfaces were analyzed separately.

Conclusions: Dentifrices containing 20% and 65% baking soda significantly enhanced plaque removal by brushing when compared to dentifrices without baking soda.

Sponsored by The Church & Dwight Co., Inc.