Malodor reductions and improved oral hygiene by toothbrushing and mouthrinsing.

Objective: This clinical study compared the effects of an antibacterial regimen, comprising a triclosan toothpaste and a 0.075% cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) mouthrinse, on malodor, self‑reported malodor, and oral hygiene measures such as dental plaque, gingivitis, and bleeding relative to brushing with a fluoride toothpaste. Materials and Methods: At baseline, 36 subjects were evaluated for malodor (9‑point organoleptic scale [OLT]), dental plaque (Turesky modification of Quigley‑Hein; PI), gingivitis (Löe‑Silness; GI) and bleeding (Ainamo and Bay; BI) and randomized to (1) tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste, or (2) a regimen comprising tooth brushing with a triclosan toothpaste and mouth rinsing with CPC mouthrinse. After the first use of assigned treatments, subjects were evaluated for malodor 2 h after breakfast (OLT‑2 h) and used provided treatments for the next 14 days. On the 7th and 14th days, subjects refrained from oral hygiene for 12 h before evaluations (OLT, PI, GI, and BI) and then performed oral hygiene at the dental clinic. Subjects were evaluated for malodor 2 h after breakfast (OLT‑2 h) and self‑assessed their malodor on a 100 mm visual analog scale (VAS). Results: Treatment groups demonstrated no significant differences in OLT, PI, GI, BI at baseline (P > 0.05). OLT‑2 h scores after the first use of regimen and after tooth brushing alone were 5.94 and 6.21, respectively, and were statistically significantly different (P < 0.05). Correspondingly, the regimen demonstrated progressive reductions in OLT and OLT‑2 h on the 7th and 14th day evaluations (5.81, 4.88, and 5.09, 4.20, respectively) and were significantly lower than after tooth brushing alone (6.49, 6.18, and 6.35, 5.99, respectively) (P < 0.05). From the 7th to 14th days, the regimen also demonstrated progressively lower PI, GI, BI, and self‑reported malodor (VAS scores) which were significantly lower than tooth brushing alone (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Results from this study demonstrated that a regimen comprising a triclosan toothpaste and CPC mouthrinse demonstrated significant malodor reductions 2 h after the first use and progressively increasing reductions in malodor, dental plaque, gingivitis, bleeding and self‑reported malodor from the 7th to 14th days than tooth brushing alone.