Triclosan levels in dental plaque post brushing with two dentifrices

Objectives: This double-blind clinical study investigated the amount of triclosan in dental plaque after brushing with two triclosan-containing toothpastes. Methods: 114 subjects completed the study.  Following 7-day washout period where all qualifying subjects used non-triclosan-containing toothpaste, Baseline plaque samples were collected and evaluated for triclosan content using High Performance Liquid Chromatography(HPLC). Baseline plaque levels were also evaluated using the Turesky modification of Quigley-Hein Plaque index which was the basis of  subjects stratification and balanced randomization into two groups. Subjects were dispensed either Colgate Dental Cream – Strong Teeth Maximum Cavity Protection (CDC) or Pepsodent GermiCheck(PGC), both of which contained 0.3% triclosan.  The subjects brushed  their teeth with their assigned dentifrice for one minute morning and evening for one-week, including in the evening of the 7^th day, 12 hours before their clinic appointment on the following day. On the 8^th day, plaque was sampled, for the “12-hour” measure of triclosan content.   Subjects then brushed with their test toothpaste and 4 hours later plaque sampling was repeated. Results:  Analysis of dental plaque collected 12-hours after brushing showed that the mean levels of triclosan in  the CDC and PGC groups were 1.00 µg/mg and 0.95 µg/mg, respectively.   The 4-hour plaque samples showed that the mean levels of triclosan in the CDC and PGC groups were 4.04 µg/mg and 2.12 µg/mg, respectively.  No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups with respect to triclosan levels at either the 12 hour or 4 hour evaluations (p>0.05). Conclusions: This clinical study supports the conclusions that (i) CDC and PGC  provided significant amounts of triclosan in dental plaque 12-hours after one-week’s use  with no statistically significant differences  and (ii) CDC and PGC provided significant amounts of triclosan in dental plaque 4-hours after final use of either toothpaste, with no statistically significant differences between the two toothpastes.