Antiplaque properties

Studies have shown that compliance with toothbmshing would be severely impaired if the bmshing regimen did not include dentifrices. Thus, the role of dentifrices in plaque control is to enhance the toothbmshing experience and thereby enhance the results. Dentifrices have tittle direct effect on plaque removal or accumulation unless they contain agents that have specific antiplaque properties. 

Triclosan is retained in dental plaque for at least 8 hours, which in addition to its broad antibacterial property could make it suitable for use as an antiplaque agent in oral care preparations. However, the compound is rapidly released from oral tissues, resulting in relatively poor antiplaque properties as assessed in clinical studies of plaque formation. This observation is further corroborated by a poor correlation between minimal inhibitory concentration values generated in vitro and clinical plaque inhibitory properties of triclosan. Improvement of substantivity was accomplished by incorporation of triclosan in a polyvinyl methyl ether maleic acid copolymer (PVM/MA, Gantrez). With the combination of PVM/MA copolymer and triclosan, the substantivity of the triclosan was increased to 12 hours in the oral cavity. 

Fluorides are purported to have some antiplaque properties. The most widely used topical fluorides are stannous fluoride, acidulated phosphate fluoride, and sodium fluoride. Of the fluorides, short-term studies of stannous fluoride have been promising. However, long-term published studies showed lower plaque scores, but the differences were not significant. 

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