Does daily consumed herbal tea have an inhibitory effect on dental plaque formation?

Abstract

In this study, developmental conditions of some bacteria responsible for the formation of dental plaque on teeth were identified, levels of dental plaque formation were determined, and the antimicrobial effect of some herbal extracts on the biofilm producing bacteria was investigated. For this purpose, 9 dental bacterial strains and Streptococcus mutans ATCC 25175 selected as standard were allowed to create biofilm on dental composite material. In later stages, the bacterial numbers on the restorative material were determined. Then, inhibitory effects of green tea, black tea, linden, sage, ginger and cinnamon extracts, which are often consumed in daily life, on bacteria responsible for dental plaque formation was examined. To the results, almost all of the isolates and S.mutans found to form biofilm in the range of 3.62 to 5.05 log CFU/mm2 on the dental composite resin surface while the highest attachment was determined as 4.71 log CFU/mm2 for S. mutans. Also, all of the herbal extracts showed antimicrobial activity at different levels. Besides, the dental strains were identified as different species of Enterobacter, Halanaerobacter, Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Thermoproteus genera. Finally, it was found that cinnamon, ginger and green tea presented the highest inhibitory effect among plant extracts used in the study.