The studies in this systematic review provide strong evidence of the antiplaque , antigingivitis effects of multiple agents .
BACKGROUND AND METHODS The author conducted a systematic review of the literature to evaluate the efficacy of  antigingivitis and antiplaque products  in six-month trials .
The effect of triclosan, stannous fluoride and chlorhexidine products on: (I) Plaque regrowth over a 4-day period.
A number of substances have been incorporated into toothpastes or gels to inhibit plaque regrowth . The aim of this study was to evaluate triclosan and stannous fluoride products for plaque inhibitory properties by comparison with a chlorhexidine or saline rinse and a control product which was a conventional commercially available toothpaste . In a blind 8 cell cross-over study , 15 volunteers rinsed 2 x a day for 4 days with slurries of the products or the saline and chlorhexidine solutions . No other form of oral hygiene was performed and plaque regrowth from a zero baseline was recorded by plaque score and plaque area . Plaque regrowth was significantly less with the chlorhexidine rinse and significantly greater with the saline rinse compared to the toothpaste and gel products . No significant differences were found between the test and control products . The results again demonstrate that commercially available toothpastes have plaque inhibitory effects which so far appear difficult to improve upon by the addition of specific ingredients , in this case stannous fluoride or triclosan . Commercially available products of known activity would appear useful benchmarks for comparison of experimental formulations
The studies in this systematic review provide strong evidence of the antiplaque , antigingivitis effects of multiple agents .
BACKGROUND AND METHODS The author conducted a systematic review of the literature to evaluate the efficacy of  antigingivitis and antiplaque products  in six-month trials .