Comparison of the antimicrobial efficacy of chlorhexidine, sodium fluoride, fluoride with essential oils, alum, green tea, and garlic with lime mouth rinses on cariogenic microbes.

BACKGROUND

A number of natural mouth rinse formulations are being proposed as an alternative to the widely used chemical mouth rinses.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate and compare the antimicrobial efficacy of chlorhexidine (0.2%), sodium fluoride (0.05%), fluoride with essential oils (0.05%), alum (0.02 M), green tea, and garlic with lime mouth rinses against Streptococcus mutans, lactobacilli, and Candida albicans.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The three microbes were isolated from the saliva samples collected from children with severe early childhood caries. The zone of minimum inhibition was assessed using agar diffusion method. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS software.

RESULTS

Against S. mutans and lactobacilli, chlorhexidine mouth rinse was found to be the most effective as compared to sodium fluoride (P < 0.001, P < 0.001), fluoride with essential oils (P < 0.001, P < 0.001), alum (P < 0.001, P < 0.001), green tea (P < 0.001, P < 0.001), and garlic with lime (P < 0.001, P < 0.001) mouth rinses, respectively. But against C. albicans, garlic with lime mouth rinse was found to be the most effective as compared to chlorhexidine (P < 0.001), sodium fluoride (P < 0.001), fluoride with essential oils (P < 0.001), alum (P < 0.001), and green tea (P < 0.001) mouth rinses. Against S. mutans and lactobacilli, after chlorhexidine mouth rinse, garlic with lime mouth rinse was found to be significantly more effective than sodium fluoride (P = 0.053, P = 0.001), fluoride with essential oils (P < 0.001, P < 0.001), alum (P < 0.001, P < 0.001), and green tea (P < 0.001, P < 0.001) mouth rinses.

CONCLUSION

As a natural mouth rinse, garlic with lime mouth rinse was found to be the most promising. However, further studies are needed in this field.