The effect of adding Thymus vulgaris and Cinnamomum verum essential oils in self-cured acrylic blocks on adhesion of Candida albicans

Abstract Background and Aim: Oral candidiasis is the most common opportunistic infection of the oral mucosa with Candida spp. Candida species form a biofilm in patients who need orthodontics with removable plaque, and this structure can lead to Candidemia. It is an important to find effective plant compounds due to less side effects and naturalness of their compounds to prevent biofilm formation. The aim of present study was determined the effect of adding Thymus vulgaris and Cinnamomum verum essential oils to self-cure acrylic blocks on Candida albicans colonization.Materials and methods: The antifungal activity of essential oils of plants and Nystatin versus of Candida albicansATCC10231 was evaluated in order to determine MIC according to CLSI-M27S4 guidelines. Then, powder and monomer were poured into tablet molds to make self-cure acrylic plaques. A total of 144 self-cure acrylic plaques were divided into 24 groups of 6 in petri dish.  Three groups contained powder and monomer, three groups contained nystatin drug, and 18 groups contained different concentrations of essential oils of plants. Then the samples were incubated in artificial saliva enriched with Candida albicans at 37°C and the effects of essential oils of plants on the binding of Candida albicans were reported by the cfu/ml count method.Results: The evaluating the sensitivity of Candida albicansATCC10231 to essential oils of plants and Nystatin were obtained as MIC= 120µg/ml, MIC= 340µg/ml and MIC= 1µg/ml, respectively. The effect of adding essential oils of plants to Self-Cure acrylic blocks in reducing the attachment of yeast cells to the blocks using ANOVA test was statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusion: Adding essential oils of plants to acrylic resin prosthesis can be effective in controlling the proliferation of Candida albicans on the surface of the prosthesis. However, its effects on the physical properties of acrylic resin dentures need further studies