Generally, clinical studies using organoleptic judges, gas chromatography (GC) or Halimeter^TM have been employed in the assessment of treatments for the control of oral malodor. However, these studies can be expensive and time consuming. Also, for agents whose safety has not been proven, these methods are not appropriate. Objective: This presentation reports the development of an in vitro method for the rapid screening of treatments and agents for the control of oral malodor. Method: The method incorporates the essential elements of uptake, retention and subsequent release of actives from hydroxyapatite disks. Disks were coated with saliva then treated with test products. The treated disks were placed in a headspace vial and incubated overnight at 37°C in a shaking water bath. The resulting headspace was analyzed for the formation of volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) using a GC. Efficacy of treatments is measured by comparing VSC formation after treatment with a test product to a water control. Results: The in vitro method has been validated using technologies clinically proven to control oral malodor. For example, a mouthrinse containing 0.4% zinc acetate reduced VSC formation 48% compared to 4% by a matching placebo. In addition, good agreement has been shown between the in vitro method and a clinical method using GC as the analytical tool. In a clinical study, the zinc acetate mouthrinse reduced breath VSC 45% versus 3% by a matching placebo. The in vitro method was also used to demonstrate that three dentifrice variants containing 0.3% triclosan and 2% Gantrez copolymer have similar abilities to control the formation of VSC and they were considerably different from placebo. These results were subsequently corroborated by clinical studies. Conclusion: The in vitro breath odor VSC model is a predictive tool for assessing new and existing product technologies for the control of oral malodor.

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