A clinical study evaluating the effect of 0.4% stannous fluoride gel in controlling plaque and gingivitis

Abstract

Background: Stannous fluoride is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent. It has been incorporated into dentifrice formulations and shown to be effective in the prevention and reduction of gingivitis (17, 18, 20), the aim of the study was to determine whether conventional tooth brushing and twice daily use of a brush on 0.4% stannous fluoride (SnF2) gel would be more effective for controlling plaque accumulation and gingivitis than conventional tooth brushing alone.Materials and Methods: A randomized, six month, single examiner blind. Gingivitis study conducted according to the guide lines for evaluating chemotherapeutic products for the control of gingivitis. 0.4% stannous fluoride gel was tested against a commercially available negative control dentifrice (Crest Complete, KSA). The sample of the study included two groups, the first; control group (N=30) used tooth brushing with standard fluoride tooth paste( Crest Complete ,KSA),while the second; study group (N=30) used tooth brushing with the same tooth paste, supplemented with a 0.4% stannous fluoride gel used twice daily for the entire six month-study period. Clinical assessment involved plaque index(1) gingival index(2) and bleeding on probing index(3) were performed at base line, three and six months post-treatment. Result: The stannous fluoride gel (SnF2) group had highly significant lower scores for plaque index (PL.I, p< 0.01), gingival index (GI, p< 0.01) and bleeding tendency at all examinations than did the control group. For the study group, mean baseline PL.I score was 1.83, at three months it was reduced to 0.84and after six months it was 0.54.For the GI. Mean baseline GI. was 1.60, at three months it was 0.82 and after six months it was reduced to 0.57. Conclusion: It is concluded that the use of 0.4% SnF2 gel is an effective adjunct to mechanical tooth cleaning in decreasing plaque and gingivitis. Key words: Stannous fluoride, plaque, gingivitis.