Antimicrobial effects of Tanacetum balsamita L essential oil Streptococcus mutants, Streptococcus sanguis and Streptococcus salivarius and its comparison with common mouthwashes

Tooth decay is one of the most common diseases in the world. The use of herbal substances to prevent and treat this disease has been considered for various reasons, such as increasing the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, high cost, and adverse effects of some chemicals used in dentistry. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Tanacetum balsamita L essential oil on Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus salivarius, and Streptococcus sanguinis.

In this study, the aerial part of the Tanacetum balsamita L plant was extracted by distillation with essential oil, the antimicrobial effect of essential oil in concentrations (12.5, 25, 50, and 100 µg / ml) was investigated. The diffusion disc method was used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of essential oil.

According to the results, the essential oil in concentration of 100 µg/m had inhibitory effect on growth of streptococcus mutans, salivaris,and sanguis. This effect was better than Irsha mouth wash and somehow less than Chlorhexidine and Oral B mouth washes. This differ was not significant so the essential oil with concentration of 100 µg/ml had similar effect as Oral B and Chlorhexidine mouth washes. The positive effect was seen in the concentrations of 25 and 50 µg/ml but it was not considerable comparing to control groups. There was no effect in 12.5 µg/ml concentration.

Based on the results of this study, it is suggested to prepare mouth washes containing the concentration of 100 µg/ml of the essential oil Tanacetum balsamita L. to evaluate the antimicrobial effects in more in othe in vitro and in vivo studies.