Methods: A Crude acetone extract of the plant was prepared from dry leaves. One ml of the plant extract, chlorhexidine gluconate and triclosan were inoculated with 50µl of yeast suspension containing 106 cells/ml. Twenty microlitres of the suspension was removed from the container at 30 second intervals for 2 minutes, mixed with universal neutralizer and spread on a solid culture medium. The cultures were incubated for 48 hours at 37°C and the number of colonies were counted from each plate. Twenty isolates from each group were studied. The results were recorded as the time taken to kill 99.5% of yeast cells. The results of the two study groups and the mouthrinses were compared using a two way ANOVA.
Results: The plant extract killed 99.5% of all the test isolates in less than 30 seconds while chlorhexidine gluconate killed 40% and 20% and triclosan 55% and 35% of C. albicans strains isolated from HIV positive and HIV negative patients respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the results of the two study groups and between chlorhexidine gluconate and triclosan.
Conclusion: The plant Dodonea angustifolia killed all the strains of C. albicans isolated from HIV positive and HIV negative patients in a shorter time than chlorhexidine gluconate and triclosan.