METHOD: 760 male and female patients completed this ‘real world’ practice-based study with patients evaluated by their own dentist at 0 and 3 months. The mouth was sub-divided into 6 sections for evaluation of gingival health (0-3 scale), and plaque assessment (0-3 scale). The sums of the six areas were used for statistical analysis. Baseline data were analyzed using analysis of variance techniques, while changes from baseline were analyzed using analysis of covariance with the baseline score as the covariate.
RESULTS: The analysis of the baseline plaque scores indicated a significantly higher level of plaque (p=0.0029) with patients from the UK(9.60) vs. Belgium (8.54) and Germany (8.72). The analysis of the baseline gingival health scores indicated a trend (p=0.0590) toward higher scores in the UK (9.08) vs. Germany (8.38) and Belgium (8.55). Analysis of the changes from baseline indicated only slightly larger but significant reductions in Germany and Belgium vs.UK for both plaque and gingival health scores.
| BASELINE | Gingival Health | p-value | Plaque | p-value |
| Belgium | 8.55 | 0.059 | 8.54 | 0.0029 |
| Germany | 8.38 | 8.72 | ||
| UK | 9.08 | 9.6 | ||
| CHANGES from BASELINE | ||||
| Belgium | -5.17 | 0.03 | -4.95 | 0.0022 |
| Germany | -4.93 | -4.85 | ||
| UK | -4.38 | -3.99 |
Further post hoc analyses indicated that the younger subjects (<30 years) had significantly lower plaque (p=0.0111) and gingival health scores (p=0.0005) and that males had significantly higher plaque scores (p=0.0002) consistent with the literature.
| Gingival Health | p-value | Plaque | p-value | |
| <30 years of age | 7.89 | 0.0005 | 8.39 | 0.0111 |
| >50 years of age | 9.05 | 9.23 | ||
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| Females | 8.43 | 0.1647 | 8.52 | 0.0002 |
| Males | 8.74 | 9.33 |
CONCLUSION: Listerine® showed a significant benefit across all patients and the effect was slightly more pronounced in Germany and Belgium.