Effectiveness of a novel experimental herbal toothpaste against bacterial consortium associated with dental caries.

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the effectiveness of an experimental toothpaste based on Juss. essential oil against a bacterial consortium associated with dental caries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The antibacterial activity of the essential oil was evaluated by the disk diffusion and microdilution tests against , and . Petri dishes were incubated at 37°C for 24 h. An experimental toothpaste was prepared at a concentration of 201.76 mg/mL. The antibacterial activity of the experimental and six commercial toothpastes were evaluated by agar well-diffusion method. Petri dishes were inoculated with a bacterial consortium prepared with the three strains. 80 mg of the toothpastes were placed in the wells and the Petri dishes were incubated at 37°C for 24 h. The inhibition zones were measured with a digital compass. The differences between the pastas were evaluated with the one-way ANOVA test, with a 5% level of significance.

RESULTS

The essential oil was more effective than 0.12% chlorhexidine in inhibiting the growth of (29.02±1.74 mm) and (21.92±3.43 mm), being more moderate for (17.66±1.11 mm) . In MBC tests, the EO showed complete inhibition of the growth of at a concentration of 5% (50.44 mg/mL), 10% (100.88 mg/mL) for and 2.5% (25.22 mg/mL) for . The experimental toothpaste was effective in inhibiting the growth of the bacterial consortium (31.88±66 mm), having a similar performance to Total Dent, Colgate Total 12, Kolynos® Herbal and Colgate® Herbal (> 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The development of an experimental paste based on H. laricifolium Juss. essential oil (0.28% v/v) showed an important antibacterial activity similar to commercial toothpastes against a bacterial consortium of , and . Antibacterial agents, toothpastes, medicinal plants, Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sanguinis, Streptococcus salivarius.