Assessment of fluoride concentrations in commercially available mouthrinses in central Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES: To assess the fluoride concentration of different commercially available mouthrinses in central Saudi Arabia, and compare the obtained measurements with label values.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study identified 25 brands of mouthrinses in the markets of Riyadh city between August and September 2013. Nineteen brands of mouthrinses whose labels indicate the percentage of sodium fluoride (NaF) and 6 brands not indicating the fluoride percentage were included in the study. Three bottles of 2 manufacturing batches of each brand were acquired, coded, and analyzed after dilution using specific electrodes for fluoride and an ion analyzer at the College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

RESULTS: The average fluoride concentrations in the tested mouthrinses ranged from 8.4 ppm (Voza) to 448.7 ppm (Sensodyne ‘Pronamel’). Analysis of variance showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in the fluoride concentration between the studied 25 brands. Almost 60% of the brands’ fluoride concentrations were significantly different (mainly lower) from the label value. However, only 5 brands contain fluoride at a concentration not significantly different from the recommended fluoride concentration in daily mouthrinses 0.05% (225 ppm).

CONCLUSION: Most of the studied commercially available mouthrinses contain topical fluoride at concentrations below the manufacturers’ label value, but above the recommended 0.05%.