Effectiveness of Rinsing Black Tea Compared to Green Tea in Decreasing Streptococcus mutans

BACKGROUND: Herbal mouthwash is considered as an alternative regimen in maintaining oral hygiene. Tea contains compounds such as catechin and tannin which possess bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect which helps to prevent dental caries. AIM: This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness between rinsing with steeping black tea and green tea solution in decreasing the amount of Streptococcus mutans. METHODS: This is an experimental study with pre and post-test controlled group design. The sample were 60 college students from North Sumatera University which were then divided into three groups: oral rinsing with steeping black tea (treatment group), oral rinsing with steeping green tea (treatment group) and oral rinsing with listerine (control group). Saliva collection was carried out before treatment (pre-test/baseline) and after treatment (post-test). Treatment group was instructed to rinse 15 ml of steeping black and green tea solution whereas control group were instructed to rinse 15 ml listerine for 30 seconds and get rid of it. The saliva samples before and after treatment were brought to the microbiology laboratorium for Streptococcus mutans amount calculation using Total Plate Count (TPC) method. A T-test were used to determine the difference between rinsing with black tea and green tea and Kruskalwalis used to determine the difference between rinsing with steeping black tea, steeping green tea and aquadest towards the mean amount of bacteria before and after treatment. RESULT: The results showed significant reduction in amount of Streptococcus mutans in both treatment group where black tea group before treatment 28.90 x 10(3) ± 7.152 x 10(3) CFU/ml and after treatment 21.60 x 10(3) ± 6.295 x 10(3) CFU/ml (p < 0.05) and green tea group before treatment 70.15 x 10(3) ± 34.814 x 10(3) CFU/ml and after treatment 54.85 x 10(3) ± 31.451 x 10(3) CFUml (p < 0.05). The results in control group also showed reduction in amount of Streptococcus mutans where before treatment 25.80 x 10(3) ± 12.190 x 10(3) CFU/ml and after treatment 11.30 x 10(3) ± 8.228 x 10(3) CFU/ml (p > 0.000). Statistical analysis revealed that significant difference was found in the mean reduction of total Streptococcus mutans before and after in black tea group 7.30 x 10(3) ± 3.062 x 10(3) CFU/ml and green tea group 15.30 x 10(3) ± 11.045 x 10(3) CFU/ml (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that rinsing with steeping green tea solution has more effectiveness in decreasing the total Streptococcus mutans as compared to black tea solution.