Eighty-one human subjects completed a double-blind study which examined the effects of a 0.3%
triclosan/2%
Gantrez copolymer/0.243%
sodium fluoride dentifrice on the microflora of supragingival
dental plaque. Subjects were divided into an experimental group which performed normal
oral hygiene with the
triclosan/copolymer/
fluoride dentifrice and a control group which also performed normal
oral hygiene with the same
dentifrice minus the
triclosan/copolymer. At baseline, 10 weeks, and 28 weeks, supragingival
dental plaque was collected from buccal and lingual surfaces of the four first molar teeth and assayed for: 1) bacterial morphotypes by phase contrast microscopy, 2) Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Actinomyces species, Bacteroides forsythus, Bacteroides gingivalis, Bacteroides intermedius, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguis, and Wolinella recta by immunofluorescence microscopy, and 3) Lactobacillus, yeast, enterics, Staphylococcus, aerobes and anaerobes by bacterial culture. After 28 weeks' use of their respective
dentifrices, changes in the supragingival plaque microflora of the subjects were similar between the
triclosan/copolymer/
fluoride dentifrice group and the control
dentifrice group, except for statistically significant reductions in fusiforms, spirochetes and staphylococci and significant increases in S. sanguis in the
triclosan/copolymer/
fluoride dentifrice group, as compared to the control
dentifrice group. The subject population was unusual in the presence of enteric species and anaerobes found in supragingival plaque sites. This study indicates that the use of a
dentifrice containing 0.3%
triclosan and 2%
Gantrez copolymer over an extended period of time (28 weeks) does not result in shifts in the microflora of supragingival plaque favoring the growth of either opportunistic or pathogenic bacterial species.