The Effect of Zinc Lactate added Tablets on Volatile Sulfur-containing Compounds in the Oral Cavity

Oral malodor is defined as breath that is offensive to others and its prevalence is around 35%.

A controlled clinical double-blinded study was conducted to assess the efficacy of sugar-free tablets containing zinc lactate on oral Volatile Sulfur-containing Compounds (VSC) versus placebo tablets.

All participants, who met the inclusion criteria, had to score a level of VSC ≥75 ppb at the basal measurement. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the groups. The test tablet (0.7g) contained 0.255 mg of zinc lactate; the control tablet was identical but without the active agent. The OralChroma2^© device was utilized to evaluate VSC. The levels were recorded at baseline, after sucking two tablets in succession and after 1 hour and 2 hours. Data were analyzed with SPSS and significance was set at α=0.05.

186 subjects completed the trial. The mean reduction from baseline at the end of tablets sucking was, respectively, 43% (p <0.001) in the control and 67% (p <0.001) in the test group, after 1 hour, it was 6% in the control (p=NS) and 25% (p <0.001) in the test group, after 2 hours, it was 3% in the control (p=NS) and 12% (p <0.001) in the test group. The comparison between the two groups after baseline adjustment showed a statistically significant difference for reductions at the end of the sucking period (p <0.001), after 1 hour (p <0.001) and after 2 hours (p <0.05).

Tablets containing zinc lactate can statistically reduce the oral VSC levels immediately and for over 2 hours.