Comparative Efficacy of Essential Oil and 0.05% CPC Mouthrinses

Introduction: This six-month randomized, observer-blind, parallel, controlled clinical study was conducted to compare an essential oil-containing (EO) antiseptic mouthrinse (LISTERINE® Antiseptic) and a 0.05% cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) rinse (Colgate Plax) on inhibition of plaque and gingivitis development. Usual toothbrushing and placebo rinsing served as the negative control (C). Method: Following a complete dental prophylaxis healthy adults with mild to moderate plaque and gingivitis were randomized into treatment groups 1) EO rinse, 2) CPC rinse, or 3) C rinse. All subjects brushed as usual and received oral and written instructions and used their assigned rinses unsupervised. All subjects were monitored monthly for compliance. The efficacy variables were whole mouth mean Turesky modification of the Quigley Hein Plaque Index (PI) and whole mouth mean Modified Gingival Index (MGI) at three and six months. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance. Result: 374 subjects completed the study. At 6 months, the EO group provided greater reductions in PI and MGI than CPC with 56.2% and 32.4%, respectively. Compared to control, EO provided statistically significantly (p<0.001) lower mean PI (0.74) and MGI (1.27) scores with reductions of 69.7% and 36.3%, respectively. The CPC group showed statistically significantly (p<0.001) lower mean PI (1.69) and MGI scores (1.88) than the C group with reductions of 30.7% and 5.8%, respectively. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the superiority of an EO rinse compared to a 0.05% CPC rinse and confirmed that including an EO containing mouthrinse in the daily oral hygiene regimen can provide a clinically significant benefit in reducing plaque and gingivitis.