Short- and long-term testing of Sanguinaria toothpaste and oral rinse used individually have yielded both positive and negative results. This review evaluates the results of a number of clinical trials testing the regimen use of sanguinaria products for periods ranging from 14 days to six months. Review of these trials establishes the clinical efficacy of the two products in combination. The regimen approach produces consistently positive reductions in plaque, gingival inflammation and bleeding parameters for up to six months with no adverse hard tissue effects and only one reversible adverse soft tissue effect observed among the 260 subjects tested. In addition, no adverse microbiological shifts in the normal oral flora were observed.

– J Can Dent Assoc 1990;56(7 Suppl):31-3 — Sanguinaria toothpaste and oral rinse regimen clinical efficacy in short- and long-term trials. — Kuftinec MM, Mueller-Joseph LJ, Kopczyk RA.

Reproductive and developmental toxicology studies were conducted with orally administered sanguinaria extract in rats and rabbits. Groups of animals which received no test article served as controls in all studies reported. No adverse effects on estrous cycling, male or female copulatory and fertility indices or gestation/lactation parameters were observed in rats given 10-100 mg/kg/day. Reduced body weights in the offspring during lactation were observed at the 100 mg/kg/day treatment level concomitant with maternal toxicity. No developmental toxicity, including teratogenicity, was observed on the fetuses of rats following maternal administration of 5-60 mg/kg/day. An increase in post-implantation loss was observed at maternally toxic dosage levels of 50 and 75 mg/kg/day in rabbits. Oral administration of sanguinaria extract in a perinatal and postnatal study in rats caused no adverse effects on litter size, parturition, or lactation of female rats nor on survival and growth of their offspring at dosage levels of 5-60 mg/kg/day. Maternal oral toxicity thresholds were 60 mg/kg/day in rats and 25 mg/kg/day in rabbits. It was concluded that the oral intake of sanguinaria extract has no selective effect on fertility, reproduction or fetal and neonatal development in rats or rabbits.

– J Clin Dent 1989 Winter;1(3):59-66 — Reproductive and developmental toxicological evaluation of sanguinaria extract. Keller KA, Meyer DL.

The short-term toxicity of sanguinarine, a benzophenanthridine alkaloid, and of two alkaloid extracts of Sanguinaria canadensis L. are presented. The acute oral LD50 in rats of sanguinarine was calculated to be 1658 mg/kg, and of the two alkaloid extracts, 1440 and 1250 mg/kg. The acute iv LD50 in rats of sanguinarine was found to be 29 mg/kg. No toxic effects were observed in rats fed up to 150 ppm sanguinarine in the diet for 14 d and in rats treated by gavage with up to 0.6 mg/kg body weight for 30 d. The acute dermal LD50 in rabbits was found to be greater than 200 mg/kg.

– J Toxicol Environ Health 1987;20(1-2):199-208 — Short-term toxicity studies of sanguinarine and of two alkaloid extracts of Sanguinaria canadensis L. — Becci PJ, Schwartz H, Barnes HH, Southard GL.