The effects of a Triclosan/copolymer dentifrice on oral odorigenic bacteria

Objectives: This clinical investigation examined the effects of short-term and extended use of the triclosan/copolymer dentifrice (hereafter referred to as test dentifrice) and a commercial fluoride dentifrice on oral bacteria including odorigenic bacteria. Methods: Twenty subjects completed a double-blind, crossover design clinical study. After a washout phase, subjects abstained from oral hygiene on the day of the clinical study and provided saliva samples for culturing on enriched and indicator media to enumerate total and odorigenic bacteria respectively. Subjects were randomly assigned a dentifrice for 7-day use and samples were collected on the eighth day prior to oral hygiene to assess the long-term effects on bacteria. Results: Extended use of the test dentifrice resulted in a 49% and 66% reduction of total and odorigenic bacteria respectively as compared to the control fluoride paste and were statistically significant (p < 0.05). To examine short-term effects, subjects subsequently brushed with their assigned dentifrice used for the past week and were sampled at 2 hr and 4 hr post-brushing. The reductions of total bacteria at 2 hr and 4 hr following the use of the test dentifrice were 62% and 52% respectively versus the control paste. The decrease of odorigenic bacteria following use of the test dentifrice at 2 hrs and 4 hrs were 79% and 72% respectively versus the control dentifrice. These reductions by the test dentifrice at 2 hrs and 4 hrs for total bacteria and odorigenic bacteria were statistically greater than the control paste (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results of this study show that versus a control, the test dentifrice with triclosan/copolymer (Colgate Total) significantly reduced total and odorigenic bacteria and explain the malodor efficacy of this dentifrice.