Antibacterial efficacy of Lemon Grass Oil (Cymbopogon citratus) on the type of bacteria and its count in Dental Aerosols

Dental aerosol disinfection should be considered as one of the most serious issues as they have very harmful microbial flora which could lead to multiple serious infections that commonly infect the operator, assistant, or the patients. Essential oils of nature like Lemon Grass have been proven recently to possess a greater action against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, Candida species, Streptococcus mutans, which are considered as the most prevalent oral microbial flora. Hence this study is aimed to determine the antibacterial effect of the Lemon Grass oil on dental aerosol bacteria around the dental unit during the dental procedure. Dental chairs with patients during treatment were included for the study where 5 agar plates with and without Lemon Grass oil application were placed in each chair at a distance of 1 - 1.5 m from the patient's mouth for 48 hours and were incubated. Types of bacteria and its count were evaluated. Results showed significant contamination of bacteria in all plates without Lemon Grass oil application, whereas significant contamination was observed in all positive control plates. Lemon Grass represents an antibacterial source that can be as effective as modern medicine against pathogenic microorganisms especially the gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria which are usually present in dental aerosols.