Effect Of Herbal And Fluoride Toothpaste On Streptococcus Mutans - A Comparative Study

The aim of this study is to compare the effect of herbal based and fluoride based tooth pastes on Streptococcus mutans. The effect of the toothpastes are compared and hence an idea on how to prevent, control and treat the dental caries is formulated. Streptococcus mutans is a bacterium commonly found in the human oral cavity and is a significant contributor to tooth decay. The bacterial count is one of the main reasons for the initiation of dental caries. Sucrose is used by Streptococcus mutans to produce a sticky, extracellular, dextran-based polysaccharide that allows them to cohere, forming plaque. An herbal based toothpaste and a flouride based toothpaste will be used for the study. The effect of these two toothpastes on Streptococcus mutans will be studied by agar will diffusion technique. The findings are compared between the groups. The results suggested that Fluoridated toothpaste had maximum antimicrobial activity at all concentrations when compared to Herbal toothpaste. The higher antimicrobial activity of fluoride containing toothpaste could be attributed to the presence of different components like triclosan and fluoride.