VANITY New Research For Toothpaste And Mouthwash Effects on Covid-19 Virus

○ Toothpastes include: Colgate® Total and select Meridol products.

○ Mouthwashes and sprays include: Those with 0.075% CPC, including most variants of Colgate® Total Spray and Mouthwash, Colgate® Plax, Vedshakti Spray, and Colgate® Zero Mouthwash. Meridol mouthwash, which does not have CPC, also neutralised SARS-CoV-2 by 99%.

Peroxyl, PerioGard, and Colgate® Total (outside the U.S.), sold as Colgate® Zero in North America.

If the COVID-19 virus is detected in your mouth, then you have already contracted the virus. There is currently no conclusive evidence that reducing virus levels in your mouth will prevent you from getting or transmitting the virus. However, lowering the amount of virus in your saliva -- which can be transmitted through talking, singing or coughing -- might help reduce your transmission risk.

There is currently no clinical evidence to prove that reducing virus levels in your mouth will make your COVID-19 symptoms less severe or help you recover more quickly. Many factors contribute to the length and severity of COVID-19, including the strength of your immune system.

"Neutralising the virus" means that while the virus is still present, it is no longer infectious and can no longer multiply.

Current data suggest these oral care products dissolve the envelope that surrounds the virus. Losing this outer protective coating prevents the virus from attaching to cells and infecting them.

Currently, there is no conclusive evidence that brushing or rinsing protects against getting or transmitting COVID-19. However, lowering the amount of virus in your saliva -- which can be transmitted through talking, singing or coughing -- might reduce the risk of transmission. Regular brushing and rinsing with safe and effective products is key to maintaining good oral health. Oral care should continue to be part of your daily personal hygiene routine. You should continue to wear masks, practice social distancing and wash your hands to help prevent virus transmission. We have planned additional studies to determine how brushing and rinsing affect the amount of virus in your mouth.

Laboratory testing is a simplified model used to determine, under very controlled conditions, whether Colgate® antimicrobial formulas can neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Laboratory testing is an internationally accepted and recognised method to assess viral inactivation for both toothpaste and mouthwash. Colgate-Palmolive is conducting additional clinical research to determine whether similar results occur in the mouth to help neutralise and lower virus levels.

We did not test the efficacy of competitor products.

Yes. The World Health Organization (WHO), the National Health Service (NHS) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) recommend everyone wear face masks to reduce the transmission of COVID-19. Continue to follow guidelines that help prevent the contraction and spread of COVID-19, such as wearing a mask, practising social distancing and washing your hands.

No, brushing your teeth or rinsing with mouthwash will not have any impact on your antibodies.

Besides Colgate® Total and select Meridol products, we have not tested other toothpastes to determine whether they neutralise the COVID-19 virus.

While our SARS-CoV-2 laboratory results are encouraging, we cannot say whether these effects will also occur in the mouth without conducting a clinical study. Our clinical programme is currently testing subjects with positive COVID-19 tests to understand if brushing with Colgate® Total toothpaste will temporarily reduce the amount of virus in the mouth.

We are doing more research to determine whether the neutralisation of the virus in laboratory tests will also occur in the mouth. Our clinical results will help us understand how much the virus is reduced and for how long.

Most variants of Colgate® Total Spray and Mouthwash, Colgate® Plax, Vedshakti Spray, and Colgate® Zero Mouthwash.

In our clinical study, we only tested Colgate® Peroxyl, Colgate® PerioGard, and Colgate® Total (outside the U.S.), sold as Colgate® Zero in North America. We are pleased to report their effectiveness in temporarily reducing the amount of virus in the mouth. We did not test other products.

The laboratory study was not designed to compare effectiveness between products. It was used only to screen the ability of products to neutralise the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Laboratory tests showed that in either 30 or 60 seconds of contact time, Colgate® mouth rinses with cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) neutralised the virus that causes COVID-19 by 99.9%. We conducted an initial clinical study to determine whether this neutralisation effect translates into a temporary reduction of the virus in the mouth and confirmed that it does. Study results from a clinical study conducted with Colgate® Total (outside the U.S.), sold as Colgate® Zero in North America, Colgate® PerioGard, and Colgate® Peroxyl mouthwashes showed that rinsing as directed provided an immediate impact, significantly reducing virus levels in the mouth. These reduced virus levels were sustained up to 30 and 60 minutes after rinsing, though levels were lowest immediately after rinsing.

A clinical study showed a significant reduction of virus levels in the mouth using certain mouthwashes, which was sustained up to 30 and 60 minutes after rinsing. However, no conclusive evidence currently exists that rinsing with a mouthwash or using a mouth spray protects against contracting or transmitting COVID-19. Rinsing regularly, however, plays an important role in maintaining good oral health. Dental professionals recommend using mouthwash as a part of a daily oral care regimen.

Our research found that the largest reduction in virus levels generally occurred immediately after rinsing, and the levels remained significantly lower for up to 60 minutes. We recommend that you rinse at home as directed as part of your daily oral health regimen. Based on our clinical study, we also recommend rinsing immediately before dental procedures.

Results from the clinical study recorded the largest reduction in virus levels immediately after rinsing. The levels remained significantly reduced for up to 60 minutes post-rinsing. Based on the results, you could consider having your patients rinse immediately before starting a procedure. You could also recommend that patients rinse less than one hour before arriving at your office to help protect staff they might interact with before their procedure.