Antiseptic Rinses

Preprocedural rinses have been shown to reduce overall salivary and aerosol microbial loads.¹¹⁰ It was, therefore, proposed that the use of antimicrobial mouthrinses, including hydrogen peroxide, chlorhexidine gluconate, cetylpyridium chloride, and/or povidone iodine could be used to reduce overall numbers of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles in saliva. In vitro evidence does suggest that oral antiseptics may have efficacy to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 viral particles through a variety of mechanisms¹¹¹, but in vivo studies have failed to show statistically significant benefit.¹¹² Table 3 summarizes the effects of various common antiseptic mouthrinses on SARS-CoV-2. It should be noted that for all of the antiseptics described, rinsing for at least 30 seconds is necessary to see viricidal results.¹¹¹