Abstract
The effect of multiple treatments with chlorhexidine mouth guards on salivary levels of mutans streptococci (MS) was studied. Eleven subjects with salivary MS ≤ 105 CFU/ml were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. Complete-arch mouth guards were coated internally with one of two ethylcellulose varnishes, one containing 30% dry w/w chlorhexidine and one containing no chlorhexidine. Subjects wore the mouth guards up to four times, each time for 7 consecutive nights while sleeping, with at least a 1-week break between treatment weeks. Subjects in the control group subsequently crossed over and also wore the chlorhexidine-containing mouth guards. Each of the week-long mouth guard sessions resulted in a reduction in mean salivary MS levels as follows (log10 CFU/ml): for the experimental group, −1.0, −0.9, −1.0 and −1.2, and for the crossover group, −1.7, −0.6, −0.5 and −0.6. Salivary MS levels were (mean ± SD) 6.4 ± 0.5 at baseline and 3.8 ± 0.5 after the last mouth guard session for the experimental group and 6.0 ± 0.5 and 4.3 ± 0.7, respectively, for the crossover group. For the control group, there was no significant change in MS levels.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 445-453 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Caries research |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 1996 |
Keywords
- Chlorhexidine
- Clinical trial
- Compliance
- Mutans streptococci
- Side effects
- Sustained release
- Tooth staining