July 2008
Fresh breath for 12 hours?
"Wake up with fresh breath every day!" say print ads for SmartMouth. But does the mouthwash, $11.50 for a 15-day supply, really
provide "12-hour fresh breath," as the ads promise? There's a "reasonable basis" for such claims, the National Advertising
Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus concluded in January 2008. But dental experts we consulted thought some
of the key evidence a SmartMouth representative provided to back the claim was weak or indirect.
In a four-week, double-blind, controlled clinical trial, 48 people were randomly assigned to rinse with one of three test formulas. So that morning breath could be analyzed, they fasted for 12 hours before testing. The result: The SmartMouth formula was the most effective. In some tests, no odor was detectable, researchers reported.
But the study, published in The Journal of Clinical Dentistry in 2004, was funded by Triumph Pharmaceuticals, the product's distributor. And it was conducted at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, which created the technology and licensed it to Triumph, a SUNY spokesman said. Independent studies with more direct test methodology would be more convincing, experts said. Other evidence had not yet been published in a peer-reviewed dental journal and so isn't as scientifically meaningful. (At press time, a SmartMouth rep sent us published research that tested effectiveness up to about 7 hours under laboratory conditions, short of the ad's 12-hour claim.)
CR's take. Protection against bad breath starts with good oral hygiene. That includes regular brushing and flossing, and gently cleaning your tongue with a toothbrush or tongue scraper. If you need something stronger, SmartMouth may help, but more independent, published research is needed to determine how well it works and for how long.
In a four-week, double-blind, controlled clinical trial, 48 people were randomly assigned to rinse with one of three test formulas. So that morning breath could be analyzed, they fasted for 12 hours before testing. The result: The SmartMouth formula was the most effective. In some tests, no odor was detectable, researchers reported.
But the study, published in The Journal of Clinical Dentistry in 2004, was funded by Triumph Pharmaceuticals, the product's distributor. And it was conducted at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, which created the technology and licensed it to Triumph, a SUNY spokesman said. Independent studies with more direct test methodology would be more convincing, experts said. Other evidence had not yet been published in a peer-reviewed dental journal and so isn't as scientifically meaningful. (At press time, a SmartMouth rep sent us published research that tested effectiveness up to about 7 hours under laboratory conditions, short of the ad's 12-hour claim.)
CR's take. Protection against bad breath starts with good oral hygiene. That includes regular brushing and flossing, and gently cleaning your tongue with a toothbrush or tongue scraper. If you need something stronger, SmartMouth may help, but more independent, published research is needed to determine how well it works and for how long.
