Different Topical Protection Effect on Bacterial Count: An In-Vitro Pilot Study

Objective: To evaluate the inhibition impact of various topical protection treatments on Streptococcus mutans. Material and Methods: Streptococcus mutans was cultured at 37ºC on selective media (mitis salivarius agar) anaerobically, then cultivated on brain heart infusion (BHI) media with 5% glucose, and the medium was refreshed daily without disturbing the specimen surface for 21 days, this procedure was performed at Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University. Results: Statistical analysis after 48 hours revealed statistically significant variations between various groups (P<0.001). Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) /potassium iodide (KI) (2.99 ± 0.14) and silver diamine fluoride (3.21 ± 0.01) were significantly the highest with an insignificant difference between them, followed by sodium fluoride (1.43 ± 0.23), while silver nitrate (0.85 ± 0.19) was significantly the lowest. Conclusions: We conclude that SDF/KI and SDF 38% are useful, efficient, and widely applicable agents for bacterial inhibition based on the study's results. Potassium iodide addition reduced the action of SDF on S. mutans.