Antimicrobial Efficacy of Herbal and Chlorhexidine Mouthrinse against Staphylococcus aureus - An in vitro Microbiological Study

BACKGROUND: Microorganisms in the oral cavity are still considered serious public health problems and position a costly burden on health-care services worldwide and elsewhere. Mouthrinses have been used in the oral cavity for decades with the intention of reducing the amount of microorganisms. Mouthrinses are used as additives to oral mechanical hygiene. Therapeutic mouthwashes are also prescribed as an alternative to mechanical plaque control for plaque accumulation prevention and for gingival and peri-implant health maintenance. Mechanical control alone has been questioned to eliminate recalcitrant biofilms in the oral cavity because it is known to be very time-consuming and, most significantly, inadequate for good oral hygiene. The aim of this study was to assess the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and antimicrobial efficacy of herbal and chlorhexidine (CHX) mouthrinse against Staphylococcus aureus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For MIC (macrobroth dilution method), MBC and antimicrobial effectiveness (zone of inhibition) of an herbal mouthrinse and 0.2% CHX mouthrinse were determined by the agar well diffusion method. RESULTS: The zone of inhibition of S. aureus was 24 mm for the CHX mouthrinse. The arowash liquid mouthrinse shows that S. aureus does not produce a zone of inhibition. CONCLUSION: CHX mouthrinse (0.2%) has a better antimicrobial efficacy against the S. mutans when compared to herbal mouthrinse (arowash liquid)