Synergistic Effects of Nonthermal Plasma and Disinfecting Agents against Dental Biofilms In Vitro

Table 3

Logarithm of saliva biofilm CFU/mL after treatment with different procedures (control compared with Ar gas or Ar plasma) and different agents (NaCl, H₂O₂, and EDTA) in changed order (first plasma then agent treatment).

Agent	Procedure
	Control	Ar gas	Ar plasma
NaCl control	7.17±0.48; 𝑁=21	6.59±0.48^∗∗; 𝑁=15	5.82±0.52^∗∗,#; 𝑁=8
H2O2	6.17±0.80^∗; 𝑁=14	5.62±0.86^∗; 𝑁=15	4.59±0.77^∗,∗∗,#; 𝑁=11
EDTA	5.92±0.37^∗; 𝑁=8	6.25±0.43^∗∗; 𝑁=14	4.51±0.82^∗,∗∗,#; 𝑁=16

Data are presented as mean lg (CFU/mL + 1) ± SD.
Ar: argon; CHX: 0.1% chlorhexidine; OCT: 0.1% octenidine; PHMB: 0.1% polyhexanide; NaOCl: 0.6% sodium hypochlorite; H₂O₂: 1.5% hydrogen peroxide; EDTA: 20% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.
^∗𝑃<0.05 versus NaCl control (within columns); **P < 0.05 versus control procedure (within rows); ^#P < 0.05 comparing Ar plasma versus Ar gas (within rows), two-sided Mann-Whitney U test, and reduction in saliva CFU/mL. P values were Bonferroni corrected.