Influence of alcohol in mouthwashes containing triclosan and zinc: an experimental gingivitis study.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Zinc and Mouthwashes in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 30 subjects taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were teenagers and adults, both men and women.

Each experimental phase was preceded by a 14-day washout period in which, after receiving a complete oral prophylaxis, the subjects were instructed to perform thorough oral hygiene procedures.

Gingivitis and plaque levels were assessed at the start and end of both the experimental phases.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and crossover.

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

As a double-blind Zinc study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

In the crossover set-up each of the subjects took both Zinc and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Dental Plaque, Epidemiologic Methods, Ethanol, Gingivitis, Mouthwashes, Triclosan and Zinc.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and crossover study of Zinc and Mouthwashes in 30 subjects.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2005 (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.