Abstract
A mouthwash is a solution used as adjunct to regular oral hygiene methods like brushing and flossing. There are many brands of mouthwashes products available in the local market. The quality of these mouthwash products need to be evaluated to ensure that the consumer receives a high quality product. Therefore the aim of this study is to assess the quality of different brands of mouthwash preparations. To achieve this goal, samples of five different brands of mouthwash products available in the local market in Tripoli-Libya; Listerin Plus© (LP), Corsodyl© (C), Listerinee© (Le), Hextril© (H), and En Liven© freshmint (EL) were collected and used in this study. The formulation, the physical characteristics such as appearance, color, odor, taste, pH, antimicrobial activity, packaging components, and labeling of each product were evaluated and/or tested. The results of this study indicate that the active ingredients present in the studied products include chlorohexidine gluconate (in C and Le), Hexetidine in H, Cetyl pyridinum and Sodium fluoride in EL, and Menthol, Methyl salicylate, Eucalytol, and Thymol in LP. Le mouthwash is similar in name to the LP but it has completely different composition. pH values of the products are different (3.85 to 6.84). All tested products have antimicrobial activity. C and H have higher antibacterial activity than the other brands. The containers of the products have tamper-evident systems. Some of labeling requirements are missing in some products. From the results we can conclude that all the studied mouthwash brands had antibacterial activity, their quality is different and some of them did not comply with some quality standards. Therefore, the quality of such products needs to be controlled. Keywords: Mouthwash, formulation, physical characteristics, packaging, labeling, evaluation, antimicrobial activity.