Efficacy of Listerine®, Meridol® and chlorhexidine mouthrinses as supplements to regular tooth‐cleaning measures

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Abstract
The anti‐plaque, anti‐gingivitis and anti‐microbial efficacies of a phenolic compound (Listerine®) and 2 different amine/stannous fluoride mouthwashes (Meridol1® I, II) were compared when these solutions were used in addition to usual toothcleaning. A placebo preparation was utilized as a negative control and a chlorhexidine solution as a positive control in this double‐blind study. After professional toothcleaning, 49 volunteers continued their habitual, self‐performed and non‐supervised oral hygiene for a period of 2 weeks, in order to have a more standard baseline. At day 0, they began to rinse twice daily with 1 of the 5 mouthwashes. After 3 weeks of rinsing, plaque indices remained the lowest in the chlorhexidine and the Meridol® 1 groups, while subjects using Listerine® or Merido® II demonstrated similar indices significantly lower than that of individuals rinsing with the placebo solution. Through this period, the gingival index scores were similar in the Meridol®, Listerine® and chlorhexidine groups. At day 21, the mean GI scores in the chlorhexidine group were significantly lower than the scores in the placebo group. The plaque vitality scores showed a bacteria] effect in vivo of chlorhexidine and, to a lesser extent, of the Meridol® solutions. No substantial evidence of an antibacterial effect in vivo was found for Listerine®. This study has demonstrated that when mouthrinses are used to supplement habitual mechanical oral hygiene, chlorhexidine remains the most powerful solution. Furthermore, it was also shown that a combination of habitual self‐performed and non‐supervised oral hygiene with Meridol® or Listerine® is more beneficial for plaque control than the use of mechanical oral hygiene alone.