Antimicrobial activity of different types of mouthwashes against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans : in vitro study

Abstract EN

Background: Recently increasing number of people are using mouthwashes for general and oral care while the primary appeal of a mouthwash is an aid to breath freshness and cleansing the mouth, the majority of mouthwashes also claim to have antiseptic properties.

The aim of this study is to determine the antimicrobial effectiveness of eight types of mouthwashes against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans in vitro.

Materials and methods: Agar diffusion technique was used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of eight types of mouthwashes against Streptococcus mutans, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans isolated from the oral cavities of patients attending dental clinics at college of dentistry - Baghdad University.

Results: Al-Mansour mouthwash emerged as the most effective mouthwash giving the maximum mean diameter of inhibition zones against Staphylococcus aureus (26 mm), Candida albicans (25 mm) and Streptococcus mutans (20 mm) followed by corsodyl mouthwash, emoform mouthwash and zac mouthwash all of them had excellent levels of antimicrobial activity also Breath, close up, sensodyne and aquafresh had good antimicrobial activity Conclusion: All the mouthwashes used revealed antimicrobial activity against the three microorganisms used even when these mouthwashes were diluted but the concentrated mouthwash had the strongest antimicrobial activity.

Al-Mansour mouthwash an Iraqi mouthwash was the best one according to the results of this study.