Synergistic/Antagonistic Potential of Natural Preparations Based on Essential Oils Against Streptococcus mutans from the Oral Cavity

Abstract

The present paper addresses a thematic of interest in preventive dental medicine, namely the possibility of using essential oils (EOs) for the inhibition of the development of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) in the oral cavity, as a viable alternative to chemical products with protective role in oral health. For this purpose, four EOs (cinnamon, clove, bergamote, and orange) were chemically characterized by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and in vitro tested against S. mutans (ATCC 25175). The results obtained revealed the antibacterial effect on S. mutans exercised by the essential oils of clove (CLEO), bergamote (BEO), and orange (OEO), which were included in the production of natural emulsion-type preparations with application in dental medicine. In order to highlight the synersistic/antagonistic effects generated by the chemical constituent of essential oils, binary and tertiary emulsions were prepared and used in saliva-enhanced medium against S. mutans. The saliva tests proved the synergistic effect exercised by the active components of EOs tested from tertiary emulsions, which cause an inhibition of the development of S. mutans in oral cavities.

Effects of Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.) in Dentistry: A Review

“…The antimicrobial effects of cinnamon against S. mutans and Lactobacillus plantarum proved to be stronger in comparison to tea tree, manuka, arnica, eucalyptus, and grapefruit [ 71 ]. In another study, the cinnamon EO did not prove its antibacterial properties against S. mutans [ 72 ]. The composition of the EO used in this study was mainly cinnamyl-alcohol (88.45%), cinnamyl-acetate (6.13%), and p-Eugenol (2.98%) One of the main antibacterial chemical compounds, cinnamaldehyde, was only responsible for 0.39% of the composition.…”

Natural Preparations Based on Orange, Bergamot and Clove Essential Oils and Their Chemical Compounds as Antimicrobial Agents

“…The study of the CEO, OEO and BEO composition has been previously reported by our group [ 35 ]. CEO content eugenol as main component (80.11%) and eugenol acetate (13.54%).…”

“…D-limonene represents 97.93% of OEO composition and 49.38% of BEO composition. Other minor components are: β-myrcene (1.52%, in OEO), α-pinene (32.63%, in BEO), o -cymene (3.82%, in BEO), 4-carene (6.35%, in BEO), β-linalool (3.02%, in BEO) [ 35 ]. Other studies have reported D-limonene as the main component in OEO and BEO [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ] and eugenol in CEO [ 40 ].…”

“…The natural emulsions were obtained based on EOs from CEO, BEO and OEO (SC SOLARIS PLANT SRL, Bucharest, Romania) using the method described in our previous paper [ 35 ]. The emulsifier (lecithin) was dissolved in water and the EO was mixed using a VCX130 PB Ultrasonic Processor (130 Watt, Frequency 20 kHz, Sonics & Materials Inc., Newtown, CT, USA), for 10 min at an amplitude of 98%.…”

“…Our previous study highlighted the antibacterial role of essential oil-based emulsions on Streptoccocus mutans , as well as the synergistic effects generated by binary and tertiary mixtures [ 35 ].…”