Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 through Treatment with the Mouth Rinsing Solutions ViruProX® and BacterX® Pro

Julia Koch-Heier; Helen Hoffmann; Michael Schindler; Adrian Lussi; Oliver Planz

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9030521

Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 through Treatment with the Mouth Rinsing Solutions ViruProX^® and BacterX^® Pro

Microorganisms. 2021 Mar 3;9(3):521. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9030521.

Authors

Julia Koch-Heier¹, Helen Hoffmann¹, Michael Schindler², Adrian Lussi^{3

4}, Oliver Planz¹

Affiliations

¹ Interfaculty Institute for Cell Biology, Department of Immunology, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.
² Institute for Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Disease, Department of Molecular Virology, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.
³ Department of Operative Dentistry and Periodontology, University Medical Centre, 79106 Freiburg, Germany.
⁴ School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland.

Abstract

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic effects daily dental work. Therefore, infection control measures are necessary to prevent infection of dental personnel during dental treatments. The use of a preprocedural mouth rinse with chlorhexidine (CHX), cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), or hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) solution for 30-60 s may reduce the viral load and may protect the personnel in a dental practice. In the present study the virucidal effect of the mouth rinsing solutions ViruProX^® with 0.05% CPC and 1.5% H₂O₂ and BacterX^® pro containing 0.1% CHX, 0.05% CPC, and 0.005% sodium fluoride (F^-) was investigated in vitro. The mouth rinsing solutions successfully inactivated infectious SARS-CoV-2 particles, the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), within 30 s. To determine the effective components, CHX, CPC, H₂O₂, and a combination of CHX and CPC, were tested against SARS-CoV-2 in addition. While a combination of CPC and CHX as well as CPC alone led to a significant reduction of infectious viral particles, H₂O₂ and CHX alone had no virucidal effect against SARS-CoV-2. It can be assumed that preprocedural rinsing of the mouth with ViruProX^® or BacterX^® pro will reduce the viral load in the oral cavity and could thus lower the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in dental practice.

Keywords: BacterX® pro; SARS-CoV-2; ViruProX®; cetylpyridinium chloride; mouth rinsing solution.