Plaque Formation/Removal by Baking-Soda and Antimicrobial Dentifrices over 4 Weeks

Recent clinical studies have shown that a single, supervised brushing with baking soda-containing dentifrices removed significantly more plaque than dentifrices without baking soda.  

Objective:  To determine whether a baking-soda toothpaste, when used unsupervised at home for 4 weeks, can maintain its plaque-removing superiority over an anti-microbial toothpaste. 

Method: A 4-wk, randomized, blinded, parallel-group clinical study of 2 marketed dentifrices was conducted.  At baseline and after 2 and 4 wks of 2x/day (60-sec) manual brushing, 24-hr plaque was assessed by the same examiner using the Turesky Modified Quigley-Hein Index.  Plaque also was measured at the baseline and 4-wk visits after a single, supervised 60-sec brushing.  Treatments comprised dentifrices containing 20% baking soda (BS) and 0.3% triclosan/copolymer (TC).  Between-group comparisons were based upon post-ANCOVA t-tests. 

Results:  Baseline mean 24-hr plaque scores were well balanced between groups (2.895±0.401 and 2.896±0.389 for BS and TC groups, respectively).  Reductions from baseline in 24-hr whole-mouth plaque scores after 2 and 4 wks of brushing are summarized below (Mean±SD):

 

Examination	BS (N=105)	TC (N=102)	BS / TC	p-value
2-week	0.398±0.300	0.215±0.251	1.85X	<0.0001
4-week	0.342±0.316	0.154±0.241	2.21X	<0.0001

In addition, the BS dentifrice showed significantly (p<0.0001) greater reductions than the TC dentifrice in mean, whole-mouth plaque scores following single-brushings at the baseline visit (BS 0.535±0.260; TC 0.284±0.179; BS/TC 1.88X) and 4-wk visit (BS 0.809±0.341; TC 0.379±0.256; BS/TC 2.13X).  Similar reductions were observed for less accessible tooth areas when analyzed separately.

Conclusion:  Twice-daily brushing with a baking soda dentifrice resulted in significantly less plaque accumulation than a triclosan/copolymer dentifrice when assessed after 2 and 4 weeks.  Single, supervised brushings with the baking soda dentifrice removed significantly more plaque than the triclosan/copolymer dentifrice at both baseline and 4-week visits.

Sponsored by The Church & Dwight Co., Inc.