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Koopman JE, Hoogenkamp MA et al. Arch Oral Biol 2016; 73: 79–87

Prebiotics foster human health by working with specific microbes. But can arginine be metabolised by oral bacteria such that the pH of the oral cavity is increased? Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief Toothpaste is one of a range of toothpastes (Extra Sensitive and Repair and Prevent, to name just two) that contain 8% arginine. This group of Colgate toothpastes is not to be confused with Colgate Maximum Cavity Protection with Sugar Acid Neutraliser which contains 1.5% arginine; clinical trials on the efficacy of this latter toothpaste have been the subject of controversy (see The tribulations of toothpaste: Unethical arginine dentifrice research. Br Dent J 2015; 219: 567–569). In this pilot study published in Arch Oral Biol, nine subjects used a toothpaste containing 8% arginine for eight weeks. Saliva was collected to determine arginolytic and sucrose metabolic activities. Although the investigators did not recruit a control group and the number of subjects were small, the following observations were made: 1) the arginolytic potential of saliva increased, whereas the sucrose metabolism in saliva decreased; 2) this was reversed during the wash-out period; 3) there was no change in the plaque microbiome, in contrast to the saliva microbiome, where there was an increase in the composition of the genus Veillonella.