More About Iodine

Iodine for Gingivitis

According to a study, iodine in mouthwash may help kill bacteria in patients at risk of infection during ultrasonic scaling.

The Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia conducted a study to investigate rinsing with povidone-iodine on bacteremia (a bacterial infection of the blood and/or lymphatic system) caused by ultrasonic scaling.

Tooth scaling involves the mechanical use of a dental instrument that scrapes away bacterial plaque and calculus from the tooth. Sometimes this device may be electric, known as an ultrasonic or sonic scaler.

There is some debate over whether there is an advantage to sonic or ultrasonic scaling over hand scaling and some issues arise from powered scalers. Powered scalers tend to create aerosols, which can spread pathogens.

Sixty patients with gingivitis undertook a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in which 30 rinsed with 0.9 percent saline and 30 with 7.5 percent povidone-iodine for two minutes before ultrasonic scaling of FDI teeth 31-35. Blood samples before and after 30 seconds and two minutes of scaling were cultured by lysocentrifugation.

The study showed that oral bacteremia occurred in 33.3 percent of the saline group and 10 percent of the povidone-iodine group. Regression analysis showed that rinsing with povidone-iodine was approximately 80 percent more effective than rinsing with saline in reducing the occurrence of bacteremia, with a statistically significant odds ratio (OR) of 0.189.

There were 24 oral bacterial isolates in the saline group and 3 in the povidone-iodine group. Viridans streptococci comprised 11 of the isolates in the saline group and none in the povidone-iodine group. Bacteremia magnitude was 0.1 Colony Forming Units / milliliter in the povidone-iodine subjects and 0.1-0.7 Colony Forming Units /milliliter in the saline group.

The study concluded that rinsing with 7.5 percent povidone-iodine reduced the incidence and magnitude of bacteremia and eliminated viridans streptococci from such bacteremia. Researchers believe povidone-iodine rinsing may be helpful for ultrasonic scaling of gingivitis patients at risk of infective endocarditis.

References

1.Cherry M, Daly CG, Mitchell D, et al. Effect of rinsing with povidone-iodine on bacteraemia due to scaling: a randomized-controlled trial. J Clin Periodontol. 2007 Feb;34(2):148-55. View Abstract.

2.Natural Standard Research Collaboration: The Authority on Integrative Medicine. http://www.naturalstandard.com/  Copyright © 2007.

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