Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of chemical and herbal toothpastes on selected clinical microbial oral flora

Background: Microbes are most commonly found associated with oral diseases. Globally, researchers along with the world Health Organization (WHO) suggested that this could be due to poor oral health and encourage all individuals to practice good oral hygiene using daily oral health products. The study aimed to determine the antimicrobial effects of toothpastes, as acclaimed by the manufacturers, to selected microbial flora involved in oral infections. Methodology: The antimicrobial activity of 6 toothpastes (3 herbal and 3 chemical) was tested against 3 clinical microbial isolates; Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of each toothpaste determined for each microbial isolate using the broth dilution method. Results: Colgate exhibited the highest inhibitory activity against S. aureus with respective MIC and MBC of 125mg/ml and 125mg/ml, followed by Oral-B with MIC and MBC of 125mg/ml and 500mg/ml, Dabur herbal with MIC and MBC of 250mg/ml and 500mg/ml, and Longrich with MIC of 500mg/ml and MBC of 1000mg/ml. Colgate and CloseUp exhibited highest inhibitory activity against E. coli with respective MIC and MBC of 125mg/ml and 500mg/ml, followed by Dabur herbal with MIC of 500mg/ml but no MBC. Colgate exhibited the highest inhibitory activity against C. albicans with respective MIC and MBC of 125mg/ml and 500mg/ml, followed by CloseUp with MIC of 500mg/ml, Longrich with MIC of 500mg/ml and MBC of 1000mg/ml, and oral-B with MIC of 500mg/ml but no MBC. Longrich and Oral-B exhibited no MIC/MBC against E. coli while Gavia charcoal exhibited no MIC/MBC against all the 3 microbial isolates at the concentrations used in the assay.Conclusion: The results obtained showed that chemically formulated toothpastes (Colgate, CloseUp and Oral-B) had higher inhibitory activity on microbial isolates than herbal toothpastes (Longrich, Dabur herbal and Gavia charcoal). This supports the manufacturers claim for the chemical toothpastes used, however, the herbal toothpastes showed little or no inhibitory effects on the microbial flora.