Evaluation of Preventive Antibacterial Properties of a Glass-Ionomer Cement Containing Purified Powder of Salvia officinalis: An In vitro Study

BACKGROUND: In this study, the anti-Streptococcus mutans and anti-Lactobacillus casei properties of a restorative glass-ionomer cement (GIC) modified with extract powder of Salvia officinalis as a safe and effective herbal extract at weight concentration levels of 0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, and 1.25% are investigated. METHODS: The S. officinalis extract powder is provided by doing a multistep laboratory procedure and is filtered to obtain particles smaller than 50 μ. The GIC powder is modified by adding extract powder in weight concentrations of 0.5% (Group II), 0.75% (Group III), 1% (Group IV), and 1.25% (Group V) to form experimental groups, each of 1 g. Five disk-shaped samples, 1 cm in diameter and 2 mm height, of each group (including control group [Group I]) are prepared for each bacterial category of S. mutans and L. casei. The twenty-five samples for each category are tested in vitro against strains of S. mutans and L. casei. Following Agar diffusion tests, the inhibition zone diameters are recorded. The data are tested for normality by means of Kolmogorov–Smirnov procedure. The Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests are used to perform a one-way ANOVA and to do pair-wise comparisons, respectively, at 5% significance level. RESULTS: The mean diameter of the inhibition zones are significantly different among the test groups and also the test groups and the control group except for the group with 0.5% in L. casei category which shows no significant difference with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed direct inhibitory activities of S. officinalis-containing GIC against S. mutans and L. casei in a dose-response manner.