Fighting Covid-19: Colgate conducts clinical studies to assess the efficacy of oral care products

As the world’s most trusted dental expert, Colgate is committed to ensuring that its products address health challenges and fulfil consumers’ needs. Recently, the Colgate research program in partnership with Rutgers University’s Public Health Research Institute and Regional Biosafety Laboratories conducted laboratory studies. The aforementioned clinical studies completed in October assessed the efficacy of oral care products. The laboratory findings suggest that some toothpastes encompassing zinc or stannous and mouthwash formulas with cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) may help reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, by temporarily reducing the amount of virus in the mouth.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus spreads through respiratory droplets or small particles that are produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes. In the laboratory studies (first to include toothpaste) Colgate Total and Meridol toothpaste neutralised 99.9% of the virus after two minutes of contact. Colgate Plax, Colgate Total and Colgate Zero mouthwashes were similarly effective after 30 seconds.

Dr Maria Ryan, Colgate’s Chief Clinical Officer stated, “While brushing and rinsing are not a treatment or a way to fully protect an individual from infection, they may help to reduce transmission and slow the spread of the virus, supplementing the benefit we get from wearing masks, social distancing and frequent hand washing.”

Dr David Alland, Chief of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Center for Covid-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness, who led the Rutgers study along with colleagues Dr Pradeep Kumar and Riccardo Russo quoted, “We’re at the early stages of our clinical investigations, but our preliminary laboratory and clinical results are very promising.”

Elaborating on the results, he explained, “While we do not yet know the contribution of SARS-CoV-2 virus originating from the mouth to Covid-19 transmission, saliva certainly can contain amounts of virus that are comparable to that found in the nose and throat.

This suggests that reducing virus in the mouth could help prevent transmission during the time that oral care products are active.”

Concurrent to the laboratory study, a Colgate-sponsored clinical study comprising of 50 hospitalised subjects with Covid-19 was conducted at the Albert Einstein Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The study report demonstrated the ability of certain Colgate mouthwashes to substantially reduce the amount of the virus in the mouth temporarily. The researchers plan to share their findings in early December.

Similarly, additional Colgate-supported clinical research studies on toothpaste and mouthwashes are in early stages at Rutgers, the Einstein Institute, and at the University of North Carolina Adams School of Dentistry, with around 260 people infected with Covid-19 participating in these studies.

Divulging into details, Dr Ryan mentioned, “Colgate is collaborating with numerous investigators throughout the globe to conduct clinical research to explore the potential of oral care products to reduce oral viral loads as a risk reduction strategy.” She reckons that oral care has a role to play in in fighting the global pandemic, alongside other preventive measures.

For more information about the effects of oral hygiene on overall health and additional insights on mask mouth and other topics, visit here.