The effect of multiple treatments with chlorhexidine mouth guards on salivary levels of mutans streptococci (MS) was studied. Eleven subjects with salivary MS ≥ 105 CFU/ml were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. Complete-arch mouth guards were coated internally with one of two ethylcellulose varnishes, one containing 30% dry w/w chlorhexidine and one containing no chlorhexidine. Subjects wore the mouth guards up to four times, each time for 7 consecutive nights while sleeping, with at least a 1-week break between treatment weeks. Subjects in the control group subsequently crossed over and also wore the chlorhexidine-containing mouth guards. Each of the week-long mouth guard sessions resulted in a reduction in mean salivary MS levels as follows (log10 CFU/ml): for the experimental group, ––1.0, ––0.9, ––1.0 and ––1.2, and for the crossover group, ––1.7, ––0.6, ––0.5 and ––0.6. Salivary MS levels were (mean ± SD) 6.4 ± 0.5 at baseline and 3.8 ± 0.5 after the last mouth guard session for the experimental group and 6.0 ± 0.5 and 4.3 ± 0.7, respectively, for the crossover group. For the control group, there was no significant change in MS levels.

Keywords:
Chlorhexidine, Clinical trial, Compliance, Mutans streptococci, Side effects, Sustained release, Tooth staining
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© 1996 S. Karger AG, Basel
1996
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