Effectiveness of Antimicrobial Solutions on Streptococcus mutans in used Toothbrushes

Abstract

Purpose:The objective was to determine the effectiveness of antimicrobial solutions on Streptococcus mutans in used tooth brushes.Methods: Sixty children used their toothbrushes twice a day, for seven consecutive days. The toothbrush bristles were then immersed into antimicrobial solutions for 12 hours: Group I-3% neem; group II-5% turmeric; group III-0.5% cetylpyridinium chloride, group IV-0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate. They were then placed into test tubes containing the resultant suspensions were three-fold diluted. Aliquots of 0.1 ml were plated in Mitis Salivarius Agar (enriched with sucrose) using dilution and plating method. Incubation was done in an anaerobic jar for 72 hours at 37°C. Results:The results obtained showed that there was 88% reduction in the Streptococcus mutans in the 3% neem group, 86% reduction in the Streptococcus mutans in the 0.5% cetylpyridinium chloride group,78% reduction in the Streptococcus mutans in the 5% turmeric group, 65% reduction in the Streptococcus mutans in the 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate group. The difference between them was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion:Bacterial contamination of toothbrushes was a major cause of concern. All the antimicrobial solutions used in this study proved to be effective toothbrush decontaminants. The efficacy of 3% neem was highest in our study followed by 0.5% cetylpyridinium chloride, 5% turmeric and 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate.

Effects of Photodynamic Therapy with Blue Light and Curcumin as Mouth Rinse for Oral Disinfection: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Curcumin mouth rinse may be dependent upon several factors, including duration of fasting 28 and time of mouth rinse. 38 Although there is a growing number of publications about the effect of curcumin on bacterial reduction, 16,18,28,39,41 few publications 28,39 such as this study observed the magnitude of curcumin as a mouth rinse.…”

“…In an in vitro model, Hegde and Kesaria 17 showed that curcumin reduced only C. albicans, and that sodium hypochlorite and neem (Azadirachta indica) were more effective in microbial inactivation, because it reduced both E. faecalis and C. albicans. In a clinical trial, Bhat et al 16 showed that the antimicrobial efficacy of neem (3%) was highest, followed by cetylpyridinium chloride (0.5%), curcumin (5%), and chlorhexidine gluconate (0.2%) when the CFU (S. mutans) reduction was measured. Chlorhexidine is widely used in dentistry for decontamination.…”

“…12,13 In this context, PDT has no side effects, and bacteria do not develop resistance to ROS. 1 Several in vitro studies and clinical trials were performed to investigate bactericidal action and oral disinfection using blue light 3,14,15 or curcumin, 16,17 or by performing PDT with blue light and curcumin. [18][19][20][21][22] In dentistry, a-PDT may reduce both dental plaque and the risk of developing caries, as well as contributing to treating gingivitis, periodontitis, periimplantitis and endodontic diseases.…”

Effect of Herbal Toothpaste Containing Neem Leaves Extract (Azadirachta Indica) Against Gingivitis: A Clinical Study

“…The antibacterial properties of neem plants have been demonstrated by Bhat et al, wherein antibacterial solutions containing neem had the highest effectiveness in reducing the number of S. mutans when compared with turmeric, chlorhexidine, and cetylpyridinium chloride [17]. However, further studies evaluating the effectiveness of herbal toothpastes containing neem leaf extracts in larger samples with severe gingival inflammation over a longer time frame are warranted.…”

Evaluating sanitization of toothbrushes using ultra violet rays and 0.2% chlorhexidine solution: A comparative clinical study

“…Our findings with CHX solutions are in accordance with the results of Bhat et al . [ 18 ] and Balappanavar et al . [ 11 ] though both of the studies assessed only the reduction of S. Mutans count after disinfecting with CHX solution.…”