Authors : W.H. Himratul Aznita, Z. Zainal-Abidin, E. Aznan and M.N. Razi
Abstract: A thin film of microorganisms on the tooth surfaces is known as dental plaque, which can contribute to the development of dental caries and periodontal disease. It has been widely known that the usage of antimicrobial oral rinses plays an important role in maintaining oral hygiene mainly by reducing the numbers of dental plaque microbes. The study was carried out with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of antimicrobial compound in commercialized oral rinses, chlorhexidine (Oradex®), hexetidine (Bactidol®) and Eugenia caryophyllus (clove) extracts (Mustika Ratu®) in controlling the numbers of dental plaque microbes. In addition, the aim was also to determine the duration of effects in suppressing and reducing plaque microbes with the usage of the selected commercialized oral rinses. The antibacterial effects of all oral rinses were evaluated in healthy adults, which were not on any antibiotic treatment for the past 6 months and were tested on volunteers for a period of 30 min interval for up to 90 min. Volunteers were required to suspend normal oral hygiene habits and on the sampling day, the exposed tooth surfaces of each volunteer were swabbed, followed by rinsing with the specified oral rinse. Swab samples were serially diluted and plated on BHI agar. Phenotypic appearance and the Colony Forming Units (CFU mL-1) were obtained. The study showed that immediately after rinsing with the respective oral rinses, chlorhexidine were effective than hexetidine and Eugenia caryophyllus extract in reducing the microbial load and sustaining the longest duration in controlling the build-up of plaque microbes. On the other hand, Eugenia caryophyllus extract acts faster than hexetidine in reducing the dental plaque microbial load, but has demonstrated to exhibit the shortest duration effect in controlling plaque build-up.
W.H. Himratul Aznita, Z. Zainal-Abidin, E. Aznan and M.N. Razi, 2009. The Effectiveness of Chlorhexidine, Hexetidine and Eugenia caryophyllus Extracts in Commercialized Oral Rinses to Reduce Dental Plaque Microbes. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 4: 716-719.