1Post-Graduate Student, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India
2Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India
3Professor and Head, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, India
*Corresponding Author: Sri Sakthi Doraikannan, Reader, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, 162, Poonamallee High Road, Chennai, 600077, Tamil Nadu, India, e-mail: drsrisakthiphd@gmail.com, Telephone Number: 8122399966
Online published on 23 December, 2019.
Chlorhexidine is considered to be the “gold-standard” among the chemotherapeutic agents. Essential oils are ideal for use in oral care products because they are both antibacterial and nontoxic-a rare combination. Lemongrass oil and neem oil have a potent antibacterial and antifungal activity. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare the antimicrobial efficacy of chlorhexidine mouthwash, lemongrass oil and neem oil against oral microflora.
It was an in vitro study. The organisms used were Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus and Candida albicans. These bacteria were inoculated in their respective medium and incubated overnight. A suspension was made in saline and was inoculated in the respective solid media by swab method. The concentrations used for lemongrass and neem oil were 1: 1, 1: 2, and 1: 4 dilution. A standard concentration of 0.2% Chlorhexidine mouthwash was used. Sterile discs (5 discs/concentration/micro-organism) were incorporated with equal amount of the chemicals using sterile micropipette and then were incubated overnight at 37°C aerobically. The diameters of the zones of inhibited growth were measured.
The mean zone of inhibition was found to be the maximum for lemongrass oil against all the three micro-organisms as compared with neem oil and chlorhexidine mouthwash. Zone of inhibited growth was maximum against C. albicans at 1: 1 dilution which means lemongrass oil highly effective against resistant C. albicansstrains. The mean zone of inhibition for neem oil and chlorhexidine mouthwash was maximum against S.mutans strains.
Results from this study have shown that herbal oils were more effective in controlling the oral microflora compared to commercially available mouthwash. Thus turning to nature can be as good as the latest advances.
Antimicrobial efficacy, Chlorhexidine, Lemongrass oil, Neemoil, Oral Microflora
