ABSTRACT
Halitosis is usually the result of vaporizing Sulfur Compounds [VSC] such as hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan. The common solution to oral malodor problem is frequent rinsing with mouthwashes. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of three locally produced and commonly used mouthwashes with a zinc chloride 0.1% solution on in-vivo production of VSC. The selected mouthwashes under investigation were: [1] IR: an anti-plaque and tartar control mouthwash containing sodium benzoate and benzoic acid as the active ingredients; [2] NS: this mouthwash containing H[2]O[2] stabilized with Ag+ ions; and [3] CI: a herbal mouthwash. The positive and negative controls were zinc chloride [Zn] solution and distilled water [DW] respectively. The seven participants in the study were instructed to first rinse their mouth with 5 ml of 6 mM cysteine solution. They kept their mouth closed for 90 seconds, followed by taking baseline mouth air samples in order to be measured by a sulphide monitoring [VSC] device [Halimeter]. Immediately after taking baseline measurements, subjects rinsed 10 ml of each test mouthwashes and solutions for 1 min on different days in a random crossover design. VSC measurements were repeated every 20 minutes up to three hours. Statistical data analysis was conducted using SPSS software, One-way ANOVA and Post-hoc LSD tests. Data revealed that, there were significant differences between the tested agents only at 20, 40, 60, and 80 minutes after rinsing. The order of VSC inhibitory effect in the first hour was according to the following order: ZN>NS>DW>IR>CI while in the next two hours the order changed to: NS>DW>IR>ZN>CI. The results of this study showed that hydrogen peroxide mouthwash has the best anti-halitosis effect compared to others over the three hours of testing period, although the highest clinical effect was observed over the first 80 minutes of mouthwash administration