December
4, 2020 – PRESS RELEASE –
Laboratory studies show that toothpastes containing zinc or stannous and
mouthwash formulas with cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) neutralize the virus
that causes COVID-19 by 99.9 percent.
The studies are part of a Colgate
research program that includes clinical studies among infected people to assess
the efficacy of oral care products in reducing the amount of the virus in the
mouth, potentially slowing the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
Laboratory studies with
@Rutgers_NJMS, part of a Colgate research program, show that toothpastes
containing zinc or stannous and mouthwash formulas with cetylpyridinium
chloride (CPC) neutralize the virus that causes COVID-19 by 99.9 percent.
@CP_News
In the laboratory studies – the
first to include toothpaste – Colgate Total and Meridol toothpastes neutralized
99.9% of the virus after two minutes of contact. Colgate Plax and Colgate Total
mouthwashes were similarly effective after 30 seconds. The studies, completed
in October, were conducted in partnership with Rutgers New Jersey Medical
School’s (NJMS) Public Health Research Institute and Regional Biosafety
Laboratories.
The
results suggest that some toothpastes and mouthwashes 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. The virus spreads through respiratory
droplets or small particles produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes,
sings, talks, or breathes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
“We’re
at the early stages of our clinical investigations, but our preliminary
laboratory and clinical results are very promising,” said Dr. Maria Ryan,
Colgate’s Chief Clinical Officer. “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 NJMS study
along with colleagues Drs. Pradeep Kumar and Riccardo Russo, said: “Given that
saliva can contain amounts of virus that are comparable to that found in the
nose and throat, it seems likely that SARS-CoV-2 virus originating in the mouth
contributes to disease transmission, especially in persons with asymptomatic
COVID-19, who are not coughing. 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, Colgate sponsored a clinical study involving some 50
hospitalized subjects with COVID-19. This study demonstrated the ability of
Colgate Total (with CPC and zinc), Colgate Peroxyl, and Colgate PerioGard
mouthwashes to substantially reduce the amount of the virus in the mouth
temporarily. The researchers plan to share their findings in December.
Additionally Colgate-supported clinical research studies on toothpaste and
mouthwashes are in early stages at Rutgers, the Albert Einstein Institute in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Adams
School of Dentistry, with some 260 people with COVID-19 participating in these
studies.
“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,” Dr. Ryan said. “We think oral care
has a role to play in fighting the global pandemic, alongside other preventive
measures.”
Dr.
Mark Wolff, Morton Amsterdam Dean of Penn Dental Medicine at the University of
Pennsylvania said, “With this pandemic, the more we understand about the virus,
the more effective we can be in fighting it, so I am excited to see the
impressive research program Colgate has undertaken. We need to continue to take
the precautions recommended by health authorities, and with these studies we
may demonstrate an additional way to address the transmission of disease among
people in close contact, particularly in dental practice. That would be an
important advance.”
As
the world’s #1 trusted dental expert, Colgate is committed to leading in
science and to ensuring that its products address health challenges and meet
consumers’ needs.