Repeated Testing and Rinsing Regimens for Toothpastes With Various Cooling and Burn Intensities: Impact on Discrimination and Repeatability

Abstract

Descriptive sensory studies were used to (1) determine the impact of rinsing on residual cooling from strongly mentholated toothpaste and (2) the effect of interstimulus delay on discrimination and repeatability of scores for mint-flavored toothpastes. The panelists brushed their teeth and evaluated residual cooling and burn. In the first experiment, rinsing with crackers and water reduced the time needed to reach a negligible score compared to no rinse or a water only rinse. In the second experiment, samples were evaluated with interstimulus delays from 4 to 24 min. Discrimination of oral cooling was more consistent with longer interstimulus delays, but even with a 24-min regimen, oral burn sometimes demonstrated slight, but significant, sensitization, a carry-over effect. These results suggest that testing toothpaste products, and perhaps other products with high levels of cooling, requires considerable time between testing, which limits the number of samples that can be tested in a single session. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSResearchers and scientists who work with products where oral cooling is a primary effect, such as mentholated toothpastes, mouthwashes and 3 Corresponding

Effects of Oral Rinsing on the Perception of Residual Cooling and Burn in Highly Mentholated Toothpaste

“…A previous study by Allison et al. (2007) has shown that oral rinsing with cracker and water significantly reduced overall cooling and burn intensity, as well as accelerated the decay of residual cooling.…”

“…1981, 2004; Chambers and Smith 1993; Lotong et al. 2002) and is in the range of highly trained panelists used ( n = 5 – 7) in other recently published papers (Allison et al. 2007; Greene et al.…”

“…Exposure to menthol results in characteristic cooling, burning, warming and tingling sensations (Gwartney and Heymann 1995) that may endure for over several minutes after the exposure (Sizer and Harris 1985). Because of the lingering sensations produced by menthol, rinsing, testing frequency and interstimulus time need to be considered when employing descriptive or consumer methodologies to evaluate mentholated products (Allison et al. 2007).…”

Descriptive Sensory Analysis of Toothpaste Flavor and Texture Using Two Sampling Methods: Brushing Versus Spoon Tasting

“…In descriptive sensory analysis testing, panelists often are asked to perform several product evaluations in one testing session. Allison et al. (2007) indicated that as many as six toothpaste samples could be tested in one session with reasonable data repeatability.…”

“…For each product sampling, toothpaste was served either on a toothbrush or white plastic spoon, depending on the condition selected for evaluation. When the toothpaste was served on a brush, a regular Oral‐B Advantage toothbrush (Oral‐B, Belmont, CA) was selected for its soft, nylon‐rounded bristles, and because it had been used in previously published sensory research (Allison and Chambers 2005; Allison et al. 2007).…”