Clinical comparison of Colgate Total Advanced Fresh vs a commercially available fluoride breath-freshening toothpaste in reducing breath odor overnight: a multiple-use study.

The objective of this randomized, crossover study was to compare the effectiveness of Colgate Total Advanced Fresh toothpaste to a commercially available breath-freshening dentifrice containing fluoride for its ability to reduce volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) responsible for breath odor overnight. The study followed a two-treatment, two-period crossover design. Subjects were given a test product, along with a soft-bristled toothbrush, and instructed to brush their teeth for 1 minute, twice daily (once in the morning and the evening) using the assigned dentifrice for 7 consecutive days.

Breath-odor evaluation by detection of volatile sulfur compounds--correlation with organoleptic odor ratings.

Volatile sulfur compounds are known to be major contributors to oral malodor, and their detection by gas chromatography (GC) is a commonly used method for evaluating breath odor in clinical trials. A custom-designed breath-sampling GC system was developed for this purpose. A clinical study was performed to compare the performance of this instrumental method to organoleptic evaluation by trained odor judges.