The effects of two essential oil mouthrinses onsupragingival plaque regrowth: a comparative study

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the plaque inhibitingeffects of two commercially available mouthrinses containingessential oils (EO): Listerine (Johnson &amp; Johnson ConsumerHealthcare, S. Palomba-Pomezia, I) and Curasept Daycare(Curaden Healthcare, Saronno, I). Both products contain thesame concentration of EO, but Curasept Daycare does not containethanol as a solvent.Material and Methods: The study was a single-center, observermasked,cross-over design with 12 subjects randomly allocated to treatment sequence according to three replicates of a 4x4Latin square, incorporating balance for any carryover. A 0.12%chlorhexidine (CHX) rinse and a saline solution served as positiveand negative controls, respectively. On day 1, subjects receivedprofessional prophylaxis, suspended oral hygiene measures, andcommenced rinsing with their allocated rinses. On day 5, subjectswere scored for disclosed plaque.Results: Differences among treatments were highly significant(P<0.0001), with greater plaque inhibition by CHX comparedto EO rinse containing ethanol, which, in turn, was significantlymore effective than the rinse without ethanol and the saline. Thereduction in plaque regrowth seen with the EO rinse withoutethanol was quite similar to that elicited by saline (P>0.05).Conclusion: The two EO-containing mouthrinses, althoughcontaining the same active ingredients, did not exert similarplaque inhibition. Moreover, the rinse without ethanol was foundto inhibit plaque regrowth to the same extent than the salinesolution (negative control). These findings suggest that the EOrinse without ethanol would provide poor plaque control benefitswhen used alongside toothbrushing.