Evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal properties of selected mouthwashes: in vitro studies

• Published in: Current issues in pharmacy and medical sciences Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 164 - 168
• Main Authors: Olejnik, Ewa, Biernasiuk, Anna, Malm, Anna, Szymanska, Jolanta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 01.09.2021
• Subjects: antimicrobial efficacy; cetylpyridinium chloride; dental plaque; mouthwashes; prevention; sodium fluoride
• ISSN: 2300-6676; 2300-6676
• DOI: 10.2478/cipms-2021-0029

Mouthwashes should include antimicrobial compounds to inhibit microorganism multiplication, thus the formation and development of dental plaque. The aim of the study was to evaluate the antibacterial and antifungal effectiveness of mouthwashes depending on their active ingredients. In the study, the effect of antibacterial and antifungal properties of mouthwashes on reference bacterial and yeast-like fungi strains was examined. The first type of the assessed mouthwashes contained only sodium fluoride or sodium fluoride and amine fluoride as active ingredients, while the second type contained sodium fluoride and cetylpyridinium chloride. In the study, a well diffusion method was used to test microorganisms constituting natural or pathogenic microflora of oral mucosa. The used reference microorganisms came from the ATCC: ATCC 4356, ATCC 53103, ATCC 25175, and yeasts: ATCC 2091, ATCC 10231, ATCC 22019, ATCC 90030, ATCC 14243. The mouthwashes containing sodium fluoride and cetylpyridinium chloride showed an inhibitory effect against a greater number of reference strains used in the study than did mouthwashes that contained only sodium fluoride (or sodium fluoride and amine fluoride) as active ingredients. Against the four reference strains of genus, the mouthwashes with an inorganic and organic fluoride compound showed no or minimum inhibitory effect or were much less effective than the mouthwashes that also contained cetylpyridinium chloride. Mouthwashes containing multiple ingredients with different antimicrobial mechanisms show synergistic action against the bacterial and fungal microflora responsible for the accumulation of dental plague.