Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 7, 2026
Author Spotlight: Assessing the Olfactory Effects of Airborne Pollutants — Buried Food and Social Odor Tests
Published on: September 13, 2024
Effect of Three Different Zinc Lactate-Added Tablets on Volatile Sulfur Compounds - A Comparative Study
Pier Francesco Porciani1, Caterina Perra, Simone Grandini
1Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Context:
Bad breath has a prevalence of 30%, which is the main cause of visits to dentists. This study focused on the efficacy of tablets added with zinc on oral volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) versus placebo over two hours. It was planned in four parallel groups, a single-centre, single-blinded randomised-controlled trial.
Materials And Methods:
Eligible participants had to score VSC ≥75 parts per billion (ppb) at the basal measurement to enter. The three test tablets were different in weight and size (0.7g, 1g, 2.1g) but contained the same amount of zinc lactate (0.51 mg); the control tablet was 1 g without zinc. The OralChroma2 © device was utilised to evaluate VSC in the oral air. VSC were scored at baseline, after sucking one tablet, after 30 minutes, 1 hour and 2 hours. Data were analysed with SPSS (version 22). Comparisons within the groups were performed using a paired T-test, and among the groups with an unpaired T-test.
Results:
120 subjects, 30 in each group, completed the trial. VSC reductions from baselines, at the end of tablet sucking, after 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours were statistically significant for the three test tablets. Comparisons between each test group and control group always showed a statistically significant difference for reductions; however, no statistical difference was reported among the test groups.
Conclusion:
Tablets containing the same amount of zinc lactate can statistically significantly reduce the VSC immediately and for over 2 hours. Moreover, the reductions with the test tablets are significantly more than those with the control tablets over time.
