Effect of a pre-brush mounthrinse containing triclosan and a copolymer on calculus formation: a three-month clinical study in Thailand.

A three-month, double-blind, parallel clinical study was conducted on a population of Thai adults to evaluate the effect of the twice daily use of a commercially available pre-brush mouthrinse on supragingival calculus formation. The mouthrinse test product contained 0.03% triclosan and 0.13% PVM/MA copolymer with the absence of fluoride. The subjects were initially examined for calculus using the Volpe-Manhold procedure. All subjects received an oral prophylaxis and were assigned to the use of either 1) a triclosan-copolymer mouthrinse, or 2) a matching flavored/colored water placebo mouthrinse. Subjects were instructed to rinse twice daily with 10 cc of the assigned mouthrinse for 1 minute, followed by brushing with the provided toothpaste containing fluoride for 45 seconds. After three months of using the assigned mouthrinse, the subjects were reexamined for calculus formation. The results indicated that the subjects using triclosan/copolymer mouthrinse had 23.17% less supragingival calculus than the placebo mouthrinse subjects. This reduction was statistically significant at the 99% or greater (F = 24.35, p<0.001) level of confidence.