Table 1.

RCTs investigating reductions of viral infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 after use of a preprocedural mouthwash

Study	Groups	No. of patients (No. of patients with successful assessment of viral infectivity)	Sampling time points	Results Viral load (RT-qPCR)	Assessment of viral infectivity	Results Viral infectivity
Barrueco et al. [85]	- 2% PVP-I - 1% H2O2 - 0.07% CPC - 0.12% CHX - Placebo	54 (29)	- Baseline - 30 min - 60 min	- No significant reduction in viral load for PVP-I, H2O2, CPC, or CHX at 30 or 60 min - Significant decrease of viral load for placebo 60 min after rinsing	Virus rescue in cell culture	Significant decrease of 1.5 log genome copies/mL in CPC group 60 min after gargling
Alemany et al. [83]	- 0.07% CPC - Placebo	105 (80)	- Baseline - 60 min - 180 min	No significant reduction in viral load in both groups	Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein by modified ELISA	Significantly increased level of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein 60 and 180 min after gargling in test group
Tarragó-Gil et al. [89]	- 0.07% CPC - Placebo	80 (79)	- Baseline - 20 min	No significant reduction in viral load in both groups	Quantification of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein by modified ELISA	Significantly increased level of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein 120 min after gargling in test group
Meister et al. [75]	- 0.1% BAC - Placebo	24 (6)	- Baseline - 15 min - 30 min	No significant reduction of viral load for both groups at all time points	Virus rescue in cell culture	Mild non-significant decrease of viral infectivity in test group
Bonn et al. [90]	- 0.05% CHX and 0.05% CPC - Placebo	61 (15)	- Baseline - 30 min	Slight (0.5 log10) decrease of viral load in both groups	Virus rescue in cell culture	Significant decrease by 1.4 log10 30 min after gargling in test group