The inhibitory effect of combining chlorhexidine and hydrogen peroxide on 3-day plaque accumulation

In a blind, randomised, 4-cell, cross-over study, the effect of rinsing with a perborate solution (1.9 g sodium perborate-monohydrate dissolved in 30 ml water/Bocasan, Oral-B) on the in vivo plaque-inhibiting effect of 0.12% chlorhexidine (Oral-B) was examined. After a thorough professional prophylaxis including interdental cleaning, 12 subjects started to rinse according to 4 different regimens: regimen (C-P-C): chlorhexidine in the morning, perborate at noon and chlorhexidine in the evening; regimen (CP-CP): chlorhexidine immediately followed by perborate in the morning and in the evening; regimen (PC-PC): perborate immediately followed by chlorhexidine in the morning and in the evening; regimen (C-C): chlorhexidine in the morning and in the evening. No further oral hygiene measures were allowed for the next 72 h. After 72 h, the subjects were scored for plaque, and a washout period of 4 days followed; cross-over was randomly assigned according to a Latin square design. Following this procedure, all subjects went through all 4 regimens. The regimens C-P-C and PC-PC resulted in significantly lower plaque-scores, 0.27 and 0.28 respectively, than regimen C-C (0.40). For the regimen CP-CP, the plaque-score was 0.28, which was not significantly different from the C-C regimen. The results suggest a positive interaction between chlorhexidine and hydrogen peroxide. Rinsing with a combination of 0.12% chlorhexidine (Oral-B) and a perborate solution (Bocasan Oral-B) can result in more effective short-term plaque growth inhibition than rinsing with chlorhexidine alone.