Evaluating The Anti- Plaque Efficacy of Herbal Dentifricesan In- Vitro Study

The only alternate is to switch to herbal products. The Indian consumer today stands highly confused with the commercially available products for oral cleanliness. The present in vitro study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of commercially available over the counter herbal dentifrices in comparison with conventional dentifrice on Streptococcus sanguis. Nine herbal dentifrices were included in the study. The herbal dentifrices were commonly commercially available over the counter products. Colgate Total toothpaste was used as the positive control for the study whereas sterile normal saline was used as negative control. Antimicrobial efficacies of dentifrices were evaluated against Streptococcus sanguis (ATCC- 10556). The antimicrobial properties of dentifrices were tested by measuring the Maximum Zone of Inhibition at 24 hours on the blood agar plates inoculated with microbial strain using disc diffusion method. Each dentifrice was tested at 100% concentration (full strength). The results of the study showed that all dentifrices selected for the study were effective against the test organism but to varying degree. Colgate Total tooth paste gave a reading of 9.1 mm for the zone of inhibition which was higher than most of the test dentifrices. Only Meswak and Promise dentifrices recorded a larger Maximum Zone of inhibition, measuring 9.2 mm each, compared to Colgate Total toothpaste. All other dentifrices showed the Zone of Inhibition to be between 7 and 9 mm respectively.