Anti-plaque dentifrices: current status and prospects

A dentifrice can, in principle, be an effective delivery vehicle for anti-plaque agents, provided bioavailability of the agent concerned can be achieved, because the agent is applied and delivered at the site of action and favourable patient compliance can be obtained. It is widely assumed that anti-plaque agents need to be retained in the oral cavity after application ('substantivity'). To use a dentifrice as a dosing vehicle successfully the anti-plaque agents have to be compatible with the dentifrice formulation to achieve release from the formulation and subsequent retention of the anti-plaque agent after application. Various anti-plaque agents have been described, such as quarternary ammonium compounds (e.g., chlorhexidine), metal ions and phenolic agents. Recently progress has been achieved with a selection of compatible anti-plaque agents for inclusion in a dentifrice such as metal ions and non-charged phenolic agents. Studies on long-term unsupervised brushing have shown favourable anti-plaque and anti-gingivitis activity from anti-plaque agents dosed from a dentifrice [corrected].