The Antimicrobial Efficacy of a New CPC/Zn acetate Breath Freshning Mouthrinse

A new mouthrinse containing cetylpyridinium chloride and zinc acetate (CPC/Zn) significantly reduced mouthodor scores in clinical studies versus a control rinse. Objectives: This investigation examined the antimicrobial effects of these rinses in laboratory and clinical studies. Methods: Laboratory tests with oral bacteria were performed with alamar blue, a redox dye that rapidly detects bacterial viability. Results: Treatment of A. viscosus, S. mutans, and S. sanguis by CPC/Zn resulted in a 25, 35 and 16% decrease in bacterial viability respectively versus control and were statistically significant (p < 0.05). A randomized, double blind clinical study with 37 subjects was conducted to confirm these laboratory results. After a washout phase, subjects abstained from oral hygiene and provided a saliva sample for determining the numbers of total and oral odorigenic producing bacteria on enriched and indicator plates. Mouthrinses were used once and subjects sampled at 90 and 180 minutes post treatment for total and oral odorigenic bacteria. In comparison to control, the decrease of total bacteria following CPC/Zn use at 90 and 180 minutes were 59.9% and 32.1% respectively. The use of CPC/Zn resulted in a 61.7% and 72.5% decrease of odorigenic bacteria at 90 and 180 minutes respectively versus control rinse. The decrease in bacteria with the CPC/Zn rinse were significantly higher than the control rinse at all post-use time points (p<0.05). Conclusions: These results demonstrate the efficacy of a mouthrinse with CPC/Zn on oral bacteria in laboratory and clinical tests. Additionally, the CPC/Zn rinse resulted in a higher reduction of oral odorigenic bacteria than the control rinse.