Methods: 14 volunteers, wearing a partial prosthesis, participated in this randomized crossover study. A sound dentin and enamel specimen covered with Dacron® gauze were mounted in the buccal flanges. During the first leg of 4 weeks, the participants were asked to perform a mouthrinse with either 10 mL 0.2% chlorhexidine or saline (0.9% NaCl) for 60 sec twice daily. After a 2-week washout period an identical rinsing procedure was followed using the alternative mouthrinse. During the experimental period, non-fluoridated toothpaste was used. After retrieving the dentin and enamel specimens, lesion formation and mineral loss were determined using transversal microradiography.
Results:
| Dentin (n=13) | |||||||
| Control | Chlorhexidine | ||||||
| Range | Median | Range | Median | p valueb | |||
| IMLa (vol%.µm) | 448.0 - 20498.9 | 6930.6 | 171.2 - 17229.1 | 6229.6 | 0.46 | ||
| Lesion depth (µm) | 70.1 - 584.9 | 337.1 | 29.5 - 554.7 | 276.6 | 0.20 | ||
| Enamel (n=14) | |||||||
| Control | Chlorhexidine | ||||||
| Range | Median | Range | Median | p valueb | |||
| IMLa (vol%.µm) | 83.3 - 12661.3 | 4660.3 | 48.4 - 12308.4 | 2393.5 | 0.36 | ||
| Lesion depth (µm) | 3.7 - 356.3 | 169.1 | 2.6 - 267.1 | 102.6 | 0.06 | ||
| a Integrated mineral loss | |||||||
| b p value Wilcoxon signed rank test (2-tailed) | |||||||
Conclusion: This experiment could not demonstrate a significant better protection of dentin and enamel against demineralization by chlorhexidine compared to saline.