Antimicrobial Efficacy of Three Different Commercially Available Dentifrices Against Early Plaque Colonizers - an Invitro Study

Dental plaque is one of the major factors behind the initiation of periodontal pathology and it’s routine elimination results in healthy teeth and oral tissues. Addition of antimicrobial agents in dentifrices have demonstrated beneficial effects. The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the antimicrobial efficacy of three commercially available dentifrices against early plaque colonizers. This invitro study model involved development of a multispecies oral biofilm consisting of initial plaque colonizers. Three different experimental dentifrices were assigned into 3 groups, which were tested on homogenously cultured multispecies biofilm. The antimicrobial activity of the three dentifrices was determined by the reduction in the colony forming units (CFU). Saline was kept as a control group. Results showed the Charcoal based dentifrice group and the herbal dentifrice demonstrated statistically significant reduction of CFU counts (p<0.001) over a period of one week. Hence, dentifrice containing the charcoal and herbal based toothpastes had superior antimicrobial efficacy against early plaque colonizers compared to dentifrice fortified with nano silver.