An 18-week home-use study comparing the oral hygiene and gingival health benefits of triclosan and fluoride toothpastes.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Toothpastes and Triclosan, published as a randomized controlled trial.

There have been relatively few studies to compare such products with conventional fluoride toothpastes in home use.

Why It Was Studied

At the beginning of the trial, each volunteer was scored for plaque and gingivitis and then received a thorough prophylaxis.

The volunteers were then re-examined after 6, 12 and 18 weeks.

Who Took Part

The study group was 143 volunteers.

The age groups tagged for this paper are teenagers, adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Each volunteer was allocated a toothpaste according to a predetermined randomisation scheme.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and parallel-group study.

The volunteers were allocated by chance, so the Toothpastes group and the comparison group should start out alike.

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

The Toothpastes group and the comparison group ran side by side rather than switching.

What Was Measured

At the beginning of the trial, each volunteer was scored for plaque and gingivitis and then received a thorough prophylaxis.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Anti-Infective Agents, Local, Cariostatic Agents, Citrates, Dental Plaque, Dental Plaque Index, Dental Prophylaxis and Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and parallel-group study of Toothpastes and Triclosan in 143 volunteers.

The publication is from 1997 (Journal of clinical periodontology), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.