The effects of a new mouthrinse containing chlorhexidine, cetylpyridinium chloride and zinc lactate on the microflora of oral halitosis patients: a dual-centre, double-blind placebo-controlled study.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Zinc and Cetylpyridinium, published as a randomized controlled trial.

This study evaluated the microbial effects of a newly formulated mouthwash (Halita) on oral halitosis patients.

Who Took Part

Forty subjects were included in this dual-centre, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel study.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to select patients.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and parallel-group study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the Zinc group a baseline to be compared against.

Groups ran in parallel: each of the participants stayed in one arm throughout.

At baseline and at 2 weeks post-treatment, full-mouth organoleptic odor scores, level of volatile sulphur compounds (VSC) and the Winkel Tongue Coating Index were recorded.

Standardized samples of tongue coating, saliva and subgingival plaque were microbiologically investigated.

Participants were randomly assigned to the test or placebo groups.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Anti-Infective Agents, Local, Cetylpyridinium, Chi-Square Distribution, Chlorhexidine, Colony Count, Microbial, Dental Plaque and Fusobacterium nucleatum.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Zinc and Cetylpyridinium.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2003 (Journal of clinical periodontology), a journal based in United States.

More context: the related Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc library page, all human trials.