Objectives: Xanthorrhizol,a major terpenoid found in only
Curcuma xanthorrhiza known as traditional Indonesian folk medicine, have a stronger activity than synthetic triclosan against oral bacteria including
Streptococcus mutans, sobrinus, and
Porphyromonas. gigivalis . The aim of this study was to determine whether toothpastes and mouthrinse containing xanthorrhizol could inhibit the growth of
Streptococcus mutans 10449.
Methods: The Bamboo Salt toothpaste(LG Household & HealthCare) containig 0.3% xanthorrhizol was compared with commercially available Colgate Total (Colgate and Palmolive) with 0.3% of triclosan, in terms of their antimicrobial capacity. The solid particles in slurry solutions of the each toothpaste was separated and then, the supernatants were employed as test materials. The test materials were serially diluted with distilled water and one part of each dilution was mixed with nine part of inoculum of
S.mutans (10
6 cell/ml) , giving final concentrations of test materials of 8, 4 , 2, 1,1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.12%, respectively. After 1 minute exposure of cells to the test materials, aliquots of 10ul of test suspension were spread onto THB agar plates using a loop. The lowest concentrations giving less than 100 CFUs were determined. For the mouthrinse study, commercially available Colgate Plax with 0.03% triclosan, Listerine with essential oil as active ingredients, and an experimental LG Mouth rinse containing 0.03% xanthorrhizol were employed and compared with the same procedure except the final concentrations of mouthrinse 50, 30,10,7, 5,3, 1%, respectively.
Results: Results showed that the Bamboo Salt toothpaste required 4%, compared to 2% Colgate Total in order to obtain the inhibitory concentration. And the LG mouthrinse having the inhibitory effect at 1% of concentration is superior to not only to the Colgate Total Plax at 30% but also Listerine at 50%.
Conclusion: These results suggest that the xanthorrhizol could be an attractive candidate as a natural antimicrobial compounds in oral hygiene products and appear to warrant clinical investigation.