Effect of polyhexanide as antiseptic mouth rinse against oral pathogens in an biofilm model.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-biofilm effect of polyhexanide mouth rinses against oral pathogens .

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Biofilms of , , , , methicillin-resistant and were grown on 10 mm diameter hydroxyapatite discs for 5 days. Biofilms were exposed to test substances for 30 s (ProntOral, polyhexanide 0.15%, chlorhexidine 0.2%). Another test set simulating blood contamination in the oral cavity was performed by submerging the discs in defibrinated sheep blood prior to antimicrobial exposure. Biofilm mass was determined crystal violet staining. The proliferation potency of the cells after antimicrobial exposure was evaluated by plating serially diluted suspensions from extracted biofilms on agar plates and determining the number of colony-forming units (CFU/ml). Mann-Whitney-U, Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's test were used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS

Regardless of blood contamination ProntOral led to a significant reduction of biofilm mass in all strains. Chlorhexidine and polyhexanide reduced biofilm mass in five out of six strains and in only four strains after blood contamination. All agents significantly reduced CFU/ml from and biofilms and biofilms were only affected by ProntOral and polyhexanide. None of the antiseptics significantly reduced the CFU/ml for biofilms. After blood contamination ProntOral and polyhexanide significantly reduced CFU/ml in all strains, whereas CHX tended to increase the CFU/ml.

CONCLUSIONS

Polyhexanide mouth rinses seem to be suitable disinfectants against oral pathogens without their anti-biofilm potential being impaired by blood.