A comparison of the plaque-inhibiting effect of stannous fluoride and chlorhexidine

Abstract

A double blind clinical trial was undertaken in order to compare the plaque inhibiting effect of SnF₂ (0.2% and 0.3%) with chlorhexidine (0.1 %) applied as mouthrinses in a test panel of 12 dental hygienist students. the experimental series were performed in periods of four days. the mean Plaque Index values were 0.35 and 0.2 when employing SnF₂ and 0.1 when chlorhexidine was used, whereas distilled water resulted in a mean value close to 1.0. the long-term effect of a 0.3 % SnF₂ solution was tested in another group of five students for a period of three weeks. the two trials confirmed previous reports claiming that SnF₂ is effective as a plaque inhibitor and, furthermore, that this effect could be maintained for a period of at least three weeks. the staining problem was less than in similar studies using chlorhexidine.