Comparison of Antimicrobial Efficacy of Brazilian Propolis With Chlorhexidine and Sodium Fluoride Against Common Oral Pathogens: An In Vitro Study

Background: Oral diseases continue to represent a major health problem worldwide. Various bacteria and fungi are found to be the possible pathogens responsible for the oral disease. Objectives: The present in vitro study was conducted to compare the antimicrobial efficacy of mouthrinse (MR) prepared from Brazilian propolis with that of two commercially available MR, Hexidine (chlorhexidine mouthrinse) (CHX), S-Flo (0.2% sodium fluoride) against common oral pathogens i.e. Streptococcus mutans, Candida albicans and Escherichia coli. Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial efficacy of three MR was measured against freeze-dried culture of S. mutans (MTCC 890), E. coli (MTCC 44) and C. albicans (MTCC 1637).The antimicrobial activity was determined by the agar well diffusion method and the zone of inhibition produced by the mouthwashes against the test organisms was measured. The data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 20 and the one-way ANOVA test was used to compare in vitro antimicrobial activity of various MR. Results: The antimicrobial efficacy of Hexidine against S. mutans and E. coli was higher compared to that of C. albicans. The Brazilian Propolis (P) MR showed antimicrobial action against S. mutans and C. albicans. The antimicrobial efficacy of P against C. albicans was higher compared to that of CHX. The S-Flo MR (0.2% sodium fluoride) and the negative control group did not show any zone of inhibition against all three test stains. Conclusions: The results of the present study indicate that Brazilian Propolis demonstrated in vitro anti-microbial efficacy against S. mutans and C. albicans.