Advances in Dental Research, Vol 8, 302-306, Copyright © 1994 by International & American Associations for Dental Research
Experiments with triclosan-containing mouthrinses: dose response--and an attempt to locate the receptor site(s) of triclosan in the mouth
V. Kjaerheim and S. M. Waaler
Department of Pedodontics and Caries Prophylaxis, Dental Faculty, University of Oslo, Norway.
A double-blind cross-over clinical study was performed on eight volunteers
to determine the plaque-inhibiting effect of different triclosan- and
sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)-containing mouthrinses. An attempt was also
made to locate the binding site(s) of triclosan in the oral cavity. After
the volunteers rinsed for four days with solutions of various
concentrations of triclosan and/or SLS, plaque deposits were scored
according to the Silness and Loe Plaque Index. The study showed that 0.15%
and 0.3% concentrations of triclosan yielded a comparable plaque-inhibiting
effect in vivo. Furthermore, the 0.1% triclosan with 1.5% SLS exhibited a
higher (though not significant) effect than 0.1% triclosan with 0.75% SLS.
The mouthrinse containing 0.05% triclosan and 0.25% SLS was as effective as
the two mentioned mouthrinses containing 0.1% triclosan. Collectively, the
results indicate that triclosan alone has an antiplaque effect, independent
of the effect of SLS. Furthermore, the results suggest that the SLS
monomers may play a role as carriers of triclosan and that the teeth are
not the only binding site of triclosan, since topical application of 0.3%
triclosan failed to produce a clinically discernible effect.
