Study: Certain Toothpastes and Mouthwashes May Help Reduce COVID-19 Spread

These studies are carried out on infected people, in order to evaluate the effectiveness of dental hygiene products to reduce the amount of virus in the mouth, potentially slowing the transmission of the Covid-19 virus. Thus, Colgate Total and Meridol toothpastes neutralized 99.9% of the virus after two minutes of contact, while Colgate Plax and Colgate Total mouthwashes had similar effectiveness after 30 seconds.

This means that some toothpastes and mouthwashes could help reduce the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, due to their temporary effect on the amount of virus in the mouth. This is important when we know that 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.

Given that this research was done with only 260 Covid-19 patients, it is necessary to avoid drawing hasty conclusions, warns Dr. Maria Ryan, clinical director for Colgate: "We are in a very early stage of our clinical research, but the preliminary clinical and laboratory results are very promising," she says, noting that "tooth brushing and mouthwashes are not a treatment or a complete protection method against infection. They can slow the spread of the virus, and come in addition to the classic barrier measures."