Sustained Dental Calculus Control by a Dual Stream Whitening Dentifrice

Dental calculus is known to provide a pathological impact to the periodontal tissues, thus its prevention and treatment are essential in maintaining a healthy oral environment. Colgate^® Simply White^® Toothpaste(SWT), a commercial whitening dentifrice, delivers clinically proven whitening benefits. SWT is manufactured in a unique dual stream system, which prevents incompatibility of the anti-calculus agents and whitening ingredients. We previously reported the development of a bridging method to study anti-calculus benefit with a denture-like appliance. Previous data from the appliance studies showed corroborated results with long-term clinical studies. The appliance serves as a surrogate tool for predicting anti-calculus clinical efficacy. Objective: This investigation was to evaluate the calculus control efficiency of SWT via two clinical studies. Method: 27 healthy human volunteers entered into two double-blind cross-over studies. An appliance was custom-made for each subject as a surface on which the anti-calculus agents' inhibition of early calculus formation could be analyzed. SWT was compared with two commercial dentifrices, Colgate^® Cavity Protection(CCP), a regular fluoride dentifrice, and Colgate^® Tartar Control Whitening (CTW). After brushing with an assigned dentifrice, subjects wore his or her appliance for 4 hrs (study 1) or 12 hrs overnight (study 2). After removing the appliance, it was washed, suspended in 0.1 M HCl to release Ca++ from deposits, and analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma. This procedure was repeated with CCP and CTW. Results: The inhibition of early stage calculus formation, measured in micrograms of deposited calcium, were 3.41 (CCP), 0.26 (CTW), and 0.5 (SWT) in study 1, and 3.52 (CCP), 0.54 (CTW), and 0.62 (SWT) in study 2. There was no statistical difference between CTW and SWT, but CTW and SWT were significantly different from CCP (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results demonstrate that SWT is a multi-benefit oral care product, providing both whitening and sustained calculus control benefit.