IADR Abstract Archives
Effects of Three Tongue Cleaning Modalities on Oral Odor
Objectives: To evaluate effects of three tongue cleaning modalities on oral odor in a randomized, examiner-blinded, parallel clinical study.
Methods: With IRB approval, 168 subjects of 18-70 years of age were randomly assigned to three groups: A) Sonicare Tongue Care+ (STC); B) mouth rinsing with Listerine Cool Mint Antiseptic; and C) tongue-brushing with a manual toothbrush (MTB). Subjects with 12-18 hour oral hygiene abstention were evaluated independently for oral odor by three blinded, calibrated judges using a 0-5 organoleptic scoring system. The subjects used assigned modality under supervision and oral odor was evaluated post-treatment and again after 4 and 8 hours using the same procedure. Subjects used the assigned modality twice daily at home and returned on day-7 for the same baseline, post-treatment, 4-hour and 8-hour organoleptic evaluation. Differences between the two control (Listerine and MTB) groups and the treatment (STC) group were examined using Dunnett’s procedure of multiple comparisons.
Results: The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of the calibration data was 0.901 for three organoleptic judges, indicating high consistency in scoring. The average age (39.0, 39.0 and 38.7 years) and gender (53.6%/56.4%/54.5% females) were comparable among the three groups. The pre-treatment mean organoleptic scores were 3.09, 3.16 and 3.20 for Groups A, B and C (P=0.362), respectively, while the post-treatment means were 1.47, 1.57 and 1.67 (P=0.059). The mean scores among the three groups became significantly different at 4-hr (1.77, 2.05 and 1.94; P=0.012) and 8-hr (1.70, 2.42 and 2.33); P<0.0001). The day-7 results showed a lower baseline score for all groups, and the overall data trend was similar to that of day-1.
Conclusions: All three modalities are effective in reducing oral odor up to 8 hours; Sonicare Tongue Care+ is significantly more effective than the other two modalities.
Methods: With IRB approval, 168 subjects of 18-70 years of age were randomly assigned to three groups: A) Sonicare Tongue Care+ (STC); B) mouth rinsing with Listerine Cool Mint Antiseptic; and C) tongue-brushing with a manual toothbrush (MTB). Subjects with 12-18 hour oral hygiene abstention were evaluated independently for oral odor by three blinded, calibrated judges using a 0-5 organoleptic scoring system. The subjects used assigned modality under supervision and oral odor was evaluated post-treatment and again after 4 and 8 hours using the same procedure. Subjects used the assigned modality twice daily at home and returned on day-7 for the same baseline, post-treatment, 4-hour and 8-hour organoleptic evaluation. Differences between the two control (Listerine and MTB) groups and the treatment (STC) group were examined using Dunnett’s procedure of multiple comparisons.
Results: The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of the calibration data was 0.901 for three organoleptic judges, indicating high consistency in scoring. The average age (39.0, 39.0 and 38.7 years) and gender (53.6%/56.4%/54.5% females) were comparable among the three groups. The pre-treatment mean organoleptic scores were 3.09, 3.16 and 3.20 for Groups A, B and C (P=0.362), respectively, while the post-treatment means were 1.47, 1.57 and 1.67 (P=0.059). The mean scores among the three groups became significantly different at 4-hr (1.77, 2.05 and 1.94; P=0.012) and 8-hr (1.70, 2.42 and 2.33); P<0.0001). The day-7 results showed a lower baseline score for all groups, and the overall data trend was similar to that of day-1.
Conclusions: All three modalities are effective in reducing oral odor up to 8 hours; Sonicare Tongue Care+ is significantly more effective than the other two modalities.