Anti-plaque effect of cymenol
inflammation, xerostomia, gingivitis, demineralisation
XEROSTOMIA, INFLAMMATION, GINGIVITIS, DEMINERALISATION, DENTAL PLAQUE, PLAQUE
A meta-analysis and meta-regression study concluded that using EO-containing mouthwashes as adjuncts to mechanical plaque control is more effective at reducing plaque and gingival inflammation than brushing and flossing alone or combined with CPC rinses [A literature review found that only a few studies to date have assessed the performance of cymenol for various purposes using in vitro [About the in vitro studies, the majority have analysed aspects unrelated to the anti-plaque activity of cymenol, e.g., its capacity to reduce both the demineralisation of human enamel [Similarly, some in vivo investigations have evaluated aspects unrelated to the anti-plaque activity of cymenol, such as its ability to reduce xerostomia [As already discussed in the In comparison to sodium fluoride dentifrices, the use of cymenol-based toothpaste by orally healthy individuals has been found to significantly lower TQH scores by 13.20% after six weeks (i.e., 42 days) [On the other hand, compared to their baseline, gingivitis patients using both a cymenol-containing toothpaste and a cymenol-mouthwash have been found to experience significant reductions in their mean TQH values of 38% after seven and 14 days, and 41% after 42 days [One of this project’s main limitations was that the size of the study group samples probably conditioned the non-detection of significant differences in the total plaque area percentages between the two groups in the first four days of application. Although the total plaque levels of test group A were about 6% lower, the effect size established for the calculated sample size was 0.08 (equivalent to a difference of 8%). In addition, including a third study group who had received the placebo mouthwash without any active ingredients in both phase 1 and phase 2 would have enabled us to determine the pattern of the plaque growth rate in the last four days of the experiment. Regarding the limitations associated with the imaging methodology applied, it should be noted that digital images are two-dimensional photographs of a three-dimensional environment. On the other hand, digital images of the palatal and lingual surfaces were not taken. However, in this regard, several authors have demonstrated through clinical indices that plaque values on buccal surfaces are similar to those found on palatal/lingual surfaces, evidencing that dental plaque on the buccal surface is representative of plaque on the palatal/lingual surface [The future perspective of clinical studies on the efficacy of oral hygiene techniques or products requires automated methods to analyse dental plaque levels using imaging. This would enable more objective comparisons to be made between different chemical adjuvants. Consequently, further research with computerised tools based on artificial intelligence is necessary to determine the best active ingredients in the fight against dental plaque.