An assessment of Plax pre-brushing dental rinse used according to directions with supervised toothbrushing

This study assessed the use of a pre-brushing rinse followed with toothbrushing with toothpaste in compliance with label directions. The treatment pre-brushing rinse was compared to a placebo pre-brushing rinse in a cross-over design. The study was started with 20 subjects. One subject developed a throat infection after the first session and was administered an antibiotic prescription and the data was not included in the analyses. No side effects or reactions to the solutions were observed or reported during or following the study. At baseline, the two groups were found to have similar plaque area scores on buccal, lingual, and total tooth surfaces. After rinsing with the pre-brushing solution (Plax) and brushing with an American Dental Association-approved toothbrush and a commercially-available fluoride toothpaste, there was significantly less plaque area when compared to the same regimen with the placebo pre-brushing rinse. For both buccal and lingual plaque area scores the differences were statistically significant at the p less than .05 level favoring Plax. On all surfaces the subjects removed significant amounts of plaque area following rinsing and brushing with toothpaste compared to their baseline scores.