The Efficacy of Pre-procedural Mouth Rinses on COVID-19 Saliva Viral Load

Saliva specimens will be collected from COVID-19-positive patients presenting to TETAMMAN clinics from January to March 2021. The total number of participants in this study will be 90 participants, with 15 per group (6 groups), and 4 saliva specimens from each patient in each group. A total of four mouth rinses and two control groups (distilled water and no-rinse). The studied mouth rinses were: 1% povidone-iodine (PVP-I) (Betadine Mouthwash/Gargle; Avrio Health LP, Stamford, CT, USA), 1.5% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (Peroxyl; Colgate-Palmolive, Guildford, UK), 0.075% cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) (Colgate Total; Colgate-Palmolive, Guildford, UK), 80 ppm sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) (Clinisept Dental Mouthwash; Clinical Health Technologies, Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK). Confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 will be recruited randomly at each TETAMMAN clinic based on inclusion and exclusion criteria to satisfy the total of 90 patients. Each participant will be introduced briefly to the study aims and then asked to sign a consent form. Demographic data and medical history will then be collected for each participant. The participants will be blinded to all mouth rinses, which will be labeled with identification codes, and presented in similar packages. Unstimulated saliva will be collected using the passive drool technique. Four saliva samples for each patient will be collected. The first saliva sample will be considered as a baseline sample that represents the baseline viral load. Then patients will be instructed to gargle the assigned mouth rinse gently, for 15 seconds. After that, the participants will spit the mouthwashes into a disposable plastic cup. After that, different salivary samples will be collected at 5 minutes, 30 minutes, and then 60 minutes. Thus, a total of four saliva samples will be gathered from each patient. The viral load will be measured by quantitative reverse transcription PCR.