title: Prolonged oral reduction of Streptococcus mutans in humans after chlorhexidine disinfection followed by fluoride treatment.
abstract: The effect of oral chlorhexidine gel treatment supplemented with fluoride applications was studied in subjects with high salivary levels of S. mutans. In two experiments short-term treatment with a 1% chlorhexidine gel was followed by applications of either a 1% NaF gel daily for 2 weeks or a 1% NaF gel daily for 6 weeks supplemented twice with topical application of an 8% SnF2 solution. The salivary numbers of S. mutans were lower in the test group than in the placebo group after 6 and 12 weeks in experiments 1 and 2, respectively, and considerably lower than the pretreatment values. The findings show that fluoride applications can be a valuable adjunct to chlorhexidine treatment for combatting S. mutans.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002710:Chlorhexidine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control; D005460:Fluorides, Topical / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D011897:Random Allocation; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005460:Fluorides, Topical; D005782:Gels; D002710:Chlorhexidine