Limited Antimicrobial Activity of Triclosan on Bacteria Immediately After Brushing

 Objectives: To investigate the effect of toothpastes on oral bacteria in tongue and salivary rinse samples immediately post brushing with Colgate^® Total and Aquafresh^® Fresh & Minty.

Methods: This was a two treatment, laboratory blinded, randomized crossover study in ten subjects. Subjects were permanent GSK employees, aged over 18 years, in good general and oral health.  Eligible subjects underwent baseline tongue sampling then provided a salivary rinse sample. Subjects then  brushed with one of the randomly assigned test treatments (Colgate Total or Aquafresh Fresh & Minty) for one minute, then underwent 10s sterile water rinse.  Post brushing tongue and salivary rinse samples were collected.  The visit was repeated 24 hours later with the second treatment.

Salivary and tongue bacteria (total anaerobes, total aerobes and VSC-producing species) were enumerated using appropriate selective media. Comparison between study treatments was performed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with factors for treatment, study period, subject (as a random effect) and pre-treatment value as a covariate.

Results: 

Summary of bacterial counts (log10) at baseline and post brushing

¹  Statistically significant reduction from baseline (p<0.05)

Data for VSC producing organisms were invalid following an investigation into the agar

No statistically significant differences between treatments were observed

Conclusions: Colgate Total did not exhibit superior reduction in oral bacteria immediately after brushing despite containing the antimicrobial ingredient triclosan.