Evaluation of essential oils activity against oral microorganisms and effect of mouthwash containing essential oil upon cariogenic microorganism biofilm

Abstract

Dental caries, an infectious and multifactorial disease, is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide and is considered a public health problem in Brazil. Cariogenic biofilms are complex aggregates of oral microbiota which are related to the development of caries and periodontal diseases. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in antibacterial mouthrinses that are effective in decreasing tooth surface biofilm in order to prevent lesions and maintain oral health. However, factors as side effects could hamper treatments efficiency. In this context, diverse classes of natural products from folk medicine have been studied. There are many active compounds of plants showing promising results in relation to antimicrobial, anticariogenic and anti-inflammatory properties. Essential oils from plants present activity against a wide variety of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Natural products are still major source of innovative therapeutic agents and they are especially important in countries with great biodiversity as Brazil. Pharmaceutical products based on natural active compounds also present advantage as low cost production, allowing greater access to population. Thus, the aim of the present work is to evaluate essential oils activity on oral microorganisms and the effect of mounthrinse containing essential oil on cariogenic streptococci biofilm. The following plants will be analyzed: Tithonia diversifolia, Viguiera arenaria, Cymbopogon citratus, Illicium verum, Zingiber officinale and Eucalyptus globules. The most active oil will be selected and mutagenicity and cytotoxicity assays will be performed. Finally, the effect of a mounthrinse formulation containing the essential oil will be evaluated on biofilm of cariogenic streptococci. (AU)