Toothpaste News
Going Liquid
Wednesday, August 4, 2004
You may have read a press
release this week claiming that liquid toothpaste
is 35% more effective for preventing interproximal
decay than traditional fluoride paste. This
is based on research published in the July
issue of JADA. If you read the full article,
you¹ll come away with another conclusion.
This Brazilian pilot study
didn¹t measure decay. Researchers measured
fluoride uptake on bovine enamel chips imbedded
in partial dentures that were worn for ten
days. Nineteen people missing lower bicuspids
and molars were fitted with partials that
had a non-human enamel chip imbedded on
the mesial surface of the first molars.
They were instructed to brush with their
assigned toothpaste with the partial
in the mouth then swish the toothpaste
around the mouth for 15 seconds before spitting
it out. Afterwards they could rinse with
water. No flossing was allowed during the
ten-day test period. Fluoride uptake was
measured as well as remineralization of
the demineralized enamel chip. No controls
were used to see how much remineralization
resulted from saliva.
The mean fluoride uptake
was 746 ppm for the liquid toothpaste and
660 ppm for the traditional toothpaste.
This difference was not statistically significant.
The percentage of remineralization was 50%
for liquid and 38% for paste. The 12-point
difference was calculated to be a 35% percent
difference thus the claim of 35% more
effective in reducing decay. This wasn¹t
the claim of the authors, but of the press
release about the research. The researchers
suggest these preliminary findings show
good cause to pursue further research in
large-scale clinical trials.
************************************************************************
About Perio Reports Wednesday
Web Reports
These short, e-mail reports
include a variety of summaries. Some are
short takes that provide a glimpse of research
directions, others are interesting information,
but don¹t really impact clinical practice
just yet, and some are noteworthy, but not
directly related to the topic of periodontology.
New products and news in general will also
be included. Sometimes one summary may fill
the space, other times several. These reports
are meant to be quick and to the point.
|
