Are Desensitizing Toothpastes Equally Biocompatible and Effective Against Microorganisms?

Abstract

The aims of this study were evaluate cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, antimicrobial activity of desensitizing toothpastes compared to a common one and the surface roughness of tooth enamel submitted to brushing with these toothpastes. Samples of three desensitizing toothpastes (Colgate Sensitive, Sensodyne and Oral B Sensitive) and common toothpaste (Colgate) were placed in contact with gingival human fibroblasts. Cytotoxicity and genotoxocity were measured by MTT assay and micronucleus test. Antimicrobial activity of the toothpastes extracts against C. albicans, S. mutans and S. aureus were assessed. For surface roughness evaluation, bovine teeth were submitted to 10.000 brushing cycles. The results were analyzed statically using Mann-Whitney U, ANOVA and Z tests (p<0.05). All toothpastes caused cytotoxic effect to the cells (p<0.05), except Colgate Sensitive. The toothpastes did not increase the number of micronuclei compared to the untreated control group. Colgate eliminated all the evaluated microorganisms at lower concentrations compared to Colgate Sensitive and Oral B Sensitive, which were not able to eliminate S. aureus. Sensodyne did not reach the minimum microbicidal concentration. The surface roughness of tooth enamel increased after brushing with Colgate Sensitive and Oral B Sensitive, however the comparison between groups showed no difference on the enamel surface roughness presented by desensitizing toothpastes when compared with the common one (p>0.05). Based on these results, we can conclude that although none toothpaste has induced genotoxicity, Colgate Sensitive was also not cytotoxic. Colgate was the most effective against the microorganisms, and there were no differences on the enamel surface roughness between the groups.

Efficacy of Antimicrobial Agents in Dentifrices: A Systematic Review

“…All selected articles evaluated the efficacy of different antimicrobial agents present in dentifrice formulations. Ten authors [ 9 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ] evaluated dentifrices with chemical antimicrobial agents, nine authors [ 1 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ] evaluated dentifrices with herbal antimicrobial agents and twenty authors [ 2 , 6 , 11 , 12 , 18 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 ] evaluated both chemical and herbal agents.…”

“…The main antimicrobial agents present in the formulations of the studied dentifrices were sodium fluoride [ 2 , 6 , 12 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 36 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ] and triclosan [ 2 , 6 , 11 , 12 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 37 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. The antimicrobial agent sodium monofluorophosphate was also present in several formulations [ 6 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 24 , 37 , 38 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 49 ]. Regarding herbal antimicrobial agents, miswak [ ...…”

“…Another criterion that showed a higher risk of bias was “Was appropriate statistical analysis used?” This result is justified by the absence of the statistical methods used [ 19 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 35 , 40 , 45 ]. Finally, some studies [ 20 , 22 , 26 , 31 , 32 , 43 , 46 ] had a high risk of bias for the criterion “Was there a control group?” because they had no control group, but rather just compared groups. Because the studies showed heterogeneity in antimicrobial agents, dentifrices used and microorganisms evaluated, statistical analysis or meta-analysis was not possible.…”

“…Fernández et al [ 27 ], on the other hand, demonstrated that dentifrices containing sodium fluoride and stannous fluoride were more effective. In nine other studies [ 6 , 12 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 24 , 37 , 46 ], dentifrices containing combinations of triclosan and sodium fluoride or sodium monofluorophosphate were more effective than the other compared dentifrices that did not have triclosan in their composition. Similarly to these findings, Haraszthy et al [ 52 ] and Forbes et al [ 59 ] reported that dentifrices containing triclosan as the active agent showed greater antimicrobial activity than the others, such as sodium fluoride.…”

Parallelism between the efficiency of Sensodyne toothpaste and Lacalut toothpaste with hydroxyapatite in oral hygiene

“…According to the study carried out by Camargo (2017), Sensodyne Rapid Relief toothpaste did not show an optimal antimicrobial effect, especially for the Streptococcus mutans strain, as no quantitative reduction of this bacterium was observed, even if a concentration of quite high. As for Candida albicans, it was less resistant to the toothpaste [18][19][20].…”