Six-Month Clinical Evaluation of Baking Soda Dentifrices on Gum Health

Objectives: Evaluate and compare the effectiveness of two Arm & Hammer^™ dentifrice formulations, one with 20% baking soda (BS) and the other with 35% BS, compared to a negative control, Aim Cavity Protection Mint Gel^™(0% BS) in reducing plaque and gingivitis following 6-months of product use.
Methods: This was a single-center, double-blind, parallel-group, randomized, controlled clinical trial. Following IRB approval, 319 healthy subjects with Soparkar/Turesky modified plaque index scores (PI) >1.95, modified gingival index score (MGI) >1.70 & ≤3.0, and ≥10 gingival bleeding (GBI) sites, were randomized to one of three treatment groups. All subjects received oral/written instructions to brush twice daily with their assigned dentifrice for 1 minute per brushing. Evaluations for MGI, PI and GBI were conducted at 6-weeks and after 3- and 6-months of product use. Data were analyzed through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) model.
Results: Three-hundred and fifteen subjects (n=107, 105, 103 for 35% BS; 20% BS and control, respectively) completed the 6-month study. All dentifrices were well-tolerated by subjects. Mean MGI, GBI and PI scores for all three dentifrices showed statistically significant within-treatment reductions versus baseline at each timepoint. For every parameter, (MGI GBI and PI) and at each time point, the 20% baking soda and 35% baking soda dentifrices were statistically significantly more effective (p<0.0001) than the negative control dentifrice with 0% BS. At month 6, the 35% BS dentifrice showed 15.0%, 46.9% and 18.3% greater reductions in MGI, GBI and PI, respectively, versus the negative control. The 20% BS dentifrice showed 9.4%, 25.9% and 12.4% reductions in MGI, GBI and PI, respectively, versus the negative control.
Conclusions: This 6-month clinical study showed that baking soda dentifrices were effective in reducing existing gingival inflammation, bleeding and supragingival plaque as compared to a regular dentifrice.