Statistical analysis
REGRESSION
Interim analysis of saliva samples collected at baseline, 30 min, 1, 2 and 3 h after mouth rinsing, for the first 2 patients from each study group was performed to identify if a specific mouthwash was not effective in reducing SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the first 1 h and should be excluded from the study. As per interim analysis all mouthwashes were able to reduce viral load, none of them were excluded from the study.The four measurements for viral load (VL) for each patient at each time point were averaged by taking the mean value which was considered as the unit of measurement. Summary statistics (mean with standard deviation (SD), confidence interval (CI) and median with range) of the viral load at baseline, 30 min, 1, 2 and 3 h after rinsing (test groups) or after no rinsing (control) were determined. LogRandom effects linear regression analysis, incorporating all time points and an interaction term for times and groups, on the logA linear regression analysis, with the dependent variable being the logAssumptions of all regression analyses were checked and verified by a study of the residuals. Outliers with a clinical plausibility for exclusion were removed from the analysis (e.g., saliva sample contaminated with food debris, delayed sample collection).The data was analysed by SPSS (IBM Corp. Released 2020. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 27.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp) and Stata (StataCorp. 2021. Stata Statistical Software: Release 17. College Station, TX: StataCorp LLC.)