Journal of Dental Research, Vol 55, 1088-1091, Copyright © 1976 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Enhancement of the antiplaque value of antibacterial agents by enamel conditioning methods: III. Animal results
S. Katz and K. C. Park
A 1:1 water-paste slurry of a placebo and several experimental dentifrices
was swabbed daily for six weeks on the teeth of albino rats, and the plaque
collected on the teeth was measured in vivo first before the treatments
began and one, two, three, and six weeks after. The results indicate that
adding a suitable antimicrobial agent to a placebo dentifrice markedly
reduced plaque accumulations on the teeth brushed with that product. When
an enamel-conditioning vehicle was used instead of the placebo, the
antiplaque effectiveness increased severalfold. It was concluded from the
two first articles of this series 1,2 that adding antibacterial agents to
enamel-conditioning systems resulted in the incorporation of the
antimicrobial compound into enamel treated with these systems, and that
enamel treated in such a fashion acquired marked antibacterial properties
of its own. The data reported in this article support a third conclusion,
namely, that the enamel-conditioning-antibacterial systems have a
considerable antiplaque effect in laboratory rats.
