TESTING EFFECTIVENESS OF TYPES OF TOOTHPASTE/MOUTH RINSE

candidate No.: jzm424

word count: 1849

INTRODUCTION
To minimise the bacterial flora in the mouth, brushing your teeth with toothpaste is essential.
Plaque, dental decay, and pain have been related to mouth bacteria. Gum disease, periodontal
disease, and dental caries have been connected to the formation of plaque 1 (a coating of bacteria
in an organic matrix that accumulates on the surface of a tooth). Past research has indicated that
removing dental plaque physically and using antimicrobial toothpastes and mouthwashes may
help manage dental plaque (Akram, 2020). Mouth bacteria come in a variety of forms.
Staphylococcus pyogenes, Neisseria, S. pneumoniae, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Diptheria,
Fusobacteria, and Haemophilus influenzae are all harmful, but they may also be helpful.
Toothpaste is classed as a medication, not a beauty product. There are a variety of antibacterial
compounds in toothpastes, like Triclosan, which is an antibacterial agent, and fluoride, which
may help decrease oral bacteria and aid to dental health, so it's crucial to know whether they're
present in various kinds (Aydin and Yeler, 2019).
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
When it comes to oral hygiene, many people find that brushing their teeth isn't enough on its own
to maintain a healthy level of plaque management. Plaque-mediated disease may be prevented as
a preventive measure by using dental products that include anti-plaque or antimicrobial chemical
ingredients (Braga and Pelá,2019). Antimicrobial chemotherapeutic agents have been
recommended as a technique of lowering the numbers of oral bacteria, particularly Streptococcus
mutans. Recent studies have shown that Triclosan, an antibacterial compound included in
toothpastes and mouthrinses, has modest but significant impacts on both dental biofilm and
gingivitis, as well as a broad range of antimicrobial activity. There is evidence that the
antibacterial activity and, by extension, the therapeutic effectiveness of triclosan-containing
mouthwashes may be influenced by the formula's constituents, including the vehicle and other
active compounds (Karabekiroglu, 2018). Skincare products, including such soaps, deodorants,
and creams have been containing Triclosan for more than 30 years. In 1985, a European
toothpaste became the first to include it into its formula. Today, triclosan is a key element in a
wide range of products intended to keep teeth healthy. established in a work with Escherichia
coli that triclosan's antiseptic effect is related to its capacity to inhibit the enoyl-acyl carrier
protein reductase enzyme's ability to impede fatty acid production. Certain antimicrobial
compounds are needed in dentifrices so that certain dental disorders may be reduced or controlled
or prevented (Nayak, 2020). Dentifrices often make claims about having antibacterial
capabilities, however there has been very little study done to back up these claims. On the basis
of this sparse data, the current research was conducted to explore the antibacterial activity of
various toothpastes and mouthrinses using the usual agar well diffusion technique (McGrath,
2019).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Following are the research question:

● What is the effectiveness of toothpaste in cleaning your mouth?

● What are effectives of mouth rinse in cleaning?
● To assess the effectiveness of herbal oral care products compared to conventional products
in reducing dental plaque and gingivitis adults.?

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Following are the conceptual framework:

METHODOLOGY

Due to its high sodium fluoride content, I expected Aquafresh toothpaste to clean the teeth and
leave the least number of germs on the teeth, which it did. Fluoride's involvement in preventing
tooth decay and cavities led us to believe that the toothpaste with the highest concentration of
fluoride would demonstrate the best outcomes in preventing the formation of oral bacteria. We
tested toothpastes from Crest, Colgate, Young Living, and Aquafresh, all of which had varying
amounts of sodium fluoride in them. Aquafresh had a 0.25 percent concentration. The committee
chose Aquafresh because of its 0.25 percent sodium fluoride level, which they deemed to be the
most effective at cleaning teeth. Fluoride-free and triclosan-free toothpastes are referred to as
"natural." As a rule, they're made up of natural substances like plant extracts like eucalyptus,
rosemary and chamomile that are tested within 24 hours of their arrival at the laboratory. For the
duration of the trial, all of the following variables were maintained: the interval between brushing
and wiping down; toothbrush/cup type; toothpaste quantity; brushing technique; brushing time;
and the bacterial count method. 9 The manufacturer's instructions were followed while
rehydrating powders used to make microbiological media (Pleszczyńska, 2017).

DATA ANALYSIS AND EXPERIMENTATION

Sterilized water was used to make 10-fold serial dilutions of 0.5mg of toothpaste. With the pour
plate method, samples were plated twice. The diluted sample (0.5 ml) was mixed with 19.5 ml of
nutrient agar, Sabouraud dextrose agar, and plate count agar before being added to the plates. For
24-48 hours, plates were incubated upside-down at 37°C in an incubator. An appropriate number
of positive and negative controls (agar plates showing the presence of E. coli, PSE, Pseudomonas
aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia) were plated in order to determine the source of
contamination in the work and as a useful guide for identification of microscopic organisms
(Santana, 2020).

ORAL BACTERIAL FLORA COUNT

The picture above is an image similar to the experiment conducted (the image is cited below). For
three straight days, each participant solely used toothpaste to keep their mouths clean, and then
they switched to another brand. Before and after brushing, saliva and mouth swaps (where the
teeth and tongue are rolled three times) were performed. Ten millilitres of sterile normal saline
was used to clean the swab (Pleszczyńska, 2017)s. Sterilized water (9.5ml) was used to dilute the
saliva (0.5ml). For both saliva and salivary washes, we prepared 10-fold serial diluting solutions
of the samples and used the pour plate method to plate them in dilutions up to 10-6. In order to
transfer the diluted sample (0.5ml), a pipette was used to deliver it into 19.5 ml of nutritional
agar solution (Fluka Biochemika, Spain). Oral bacterial flora was counted 24 hours after plates
were kept upside down at 37°C in an incubator (Karabekiroglu, 2018). The difference in bacteria
present before and after brushing was used to compute the percentage decrease in bacterial
counts. In order to determine the sources of contamination in the work and to serve as an
effective guide in the identification of microbia, appropriate positive controls (agar plates
containing a few really mouth flora: Staphylococcus and Streptococcus pneumoniae) were
cultured to use the pour plate technique and negative controls (agar rubber bumpers containing
only nutrient agar, sabouraud dextrose yeast extract, plate count agar, sterile water and normal
(Nayak, 2020).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Toothpaste products sold in the Abuja open market which is the capital of Nigeria were found to
be free of bacterial or fungal contamination, indicating they meet the drug standard that excludes
a pathogenic organism from a drug's microbial quality as per the experiment indicated. This
means the products are safe to ingest and do not pose a health hazard to consumers. Because
toothpaste brands have reduced oral bacterial flora levels. Because of the chemicals (sodium
saccharin and other sweets) in the toothpaste, it isn't obvious why this happens. However, further
study is needed on this (Zanatta, 2020). No toothpaste was able to eradicate germs from teeth by
as much as 50%. The findings suggest that additional study is needed into the potential benefits
of toothpaste in eliminating mouth microorganisms. Antibacterial toothpastes that include
sodium fluoride and triclosan on average reduce oral germs by 20% and 7% more than
non-triclosan toothpastes, respectively. Additionally to sodium fluoride, this study found that
toothpastes that contained triclosan as an antibacterial in addition to the latter's active
antibacterial ingredient were moderately (7 percent -20 percent) more effective than toothpastes
that did not. This finding is in line with other dental hygiene studies. Claims of triclosan's safety
have been made, despite this being statistically significant (p=0.032). T003 demonstrated a
statistically significant (p=0.009) decrease of 16 percent (3rd) over the sodium fluoride alone
toothpastes (Santana, 2020). Other substances, such as natural extracts and natural oil blends,
may also have antibacterial properties (Vajrabhaya, 2019). Toothpaste without triclosan or
sodium fluoride is recommended by dentists due to statements made about their safety profile.
These dentists think that natural toothpaste contains natural elements such particular mineral
salts and plant extracts that have an antibacterial impact. Some studies have recommended that
customers avoid any products that claim to be "antibacterial" (unless they are employing herbs to
do it), but the ultimate choice is up to the individual. Customers should also remember that brand
name and label composition are not sufficient grounds to convert from sodium fluoride +
triclosan or sodium
fluoride alone toothpastes to these natural toothpastes until research has shown that they achieve
their antibacterial activity utilising herbs. With simply sodium fluoride as an antibacterial
ingredient, T001 and T002 were placed fourth and fifth. In the rankings, T005 placed sixth, while
T007 eliminated the least amount of germs from teeth (7th). The gender of the participants
selected had no significant impact (p 0.01). If toothpaste formulas supplied in Nigerian open
markets are effective in reducing oral bacteria, they might have an important impact on dental
health. This is why additional study is needed (Pleszczyńska, 2017)

By breaking cell walls and limiting enzymatic activity, these chemicals kill microorganisms when
added to oral products. Endotoxins are also prevented from being released because they inhibit
bacteria from aggregating and multiplying at the same time. The results of our investigations
confirm this claim, since all of the tested dental care products showed a broad range of efficiency
against the two microorga (McGrath, 2019). triclosan-containing toothpaste formulations
outperformed synthetic toothpastes without triclosan in managing oral microbiota, according to
earlier research. Our investigation, however, found that non-triclosan toothpaste formulation A
was the most effective in a 1:1 dilution for both of the microorganisms tested. At greater
dilutions, formulation A had less antibacterial activity than formulation B (Nayak, 2020).

CONCLUSION
According to our findings, although the toothpastes sold in Abuja's open markets are of high
microbiological quality, the formulation efficiency in decreasing oral bacteria is inadequate, since
no toothpaste formulation was found to reduce oral bacteria flora by up to 50%. Because of this,
our study seems to urge for more investigation into the potential utility of toothpaste formulations
on the market. According to the findings of this research, natural antimicrobial compounds in
toothpaste were more efficient than synthetic antimicrobial agents like triclosan in managing oral
microbiota. If antimicrobial efficacy data can be applied to the oral cavity, it cannot be assumed
that they can be applied to clinical effectiveness. It is not required that the effects we saw in this
in-vitro study translate to in-vivo tests; instead, this research should be carried out in in-vivo
circumstances. There is a possibility that the results of this research may be used to compare the
antibacterial effects of different herbal toothpastes to those of standard dentifrices. Antibacterial
components may be extracted in a pure molecular form by using the HPLC process, which can
further improve dentifrices' potency. According to our findings, some dentifrices have a lower
zone of inhibition because the antibacterial components are less soluble. As a result, more
research and trials to improve their solubility are necessary.
REFERENCES
Akram, Z., Shafqat, S.S., Aati, S., Kujan, O. and Fawzy, A., 2020. Clinical efficacy of probiotics
in the treatment of gingivitis: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Australian dental
journal, 65(1), pp.12-20.

Aydin, M., Derici, M.Ç., Keşkek, Ş.Ö., Demir, Y.İ. and Yeler, D., 2019. Instant and freshness
effect of mouth rinses on type 1 (oral) halitosis. Acta Odontol Latinoam, 32(2), pp.79-87.

Braga, A.S., Girotti, L.D., de Melo Simas, L.L., Pires, J.G., Pelá, V.T., Buzalaf, M.A.R. and
Magalhaes, A.C., 2019. Effect of commercial herbal toothpastes and mouth rinses on the
prevention of enamel demineralization using a microcosm biofilm model. Biofouling,
35(7), pp.796-804.

Karabekiroglu, S., Erdur, E.A., Ileri, Z. and Unlu, N., 2018. Effectiveness of Remineralization
Treatments on Incipient Lesions: A Controlled Clinical Trial. Int J Oral Dent Health, 4,
p.054.

McGrath, C., Zhou, N. and Wong, H.M., 2019. A systematic review and meta‐analysis of dental
plaque control among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities. Journal of
Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 32(3), pp.522-532.

Nayak, P., 2020. Topical Fluoride for Prevention of Dental Caries: A Review. Indian Journal of
Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 14(4).

Pleszczyńska, M., Wiater, A., Bachanek, T. and Szczodrak, J., 2017. Enzymes in therapy of
biofilm‐related oral diseases. Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry, 64(3), pp.337-
 346.

Santana Jorge, O., Noronha Ferraz de Arruda, C., Tonani Torrieri, R., Geng Vivanco, R. and de
Carvalho Panzeri Pires‐de‐Souza, F., 2020. Over‐the‐counter bleaching agents can help
with tooth whitening maintenance. Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry.

Vajrabhaya, L.O., Sappayatosok, K., Kulthanaamondhita, P., Korsuwannawong, S. and

Sirikururat, P., 2019. Desensitizing Efficacy of a Herbal Toothpaste: A Clinical Study.
World, 10(6), p.409.
Zanatta, R.F., Caneppele, T.M.F., Scaramucci, T., El Dib, R., Maia, L.C., Ferreira, D.M.T.P. and
Borges, A.B., 2020. Protective effect of fluorides on erosion and erosion/abrasion in
enamel: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized in situ trials. Archives of
Oral Biology, p.104945.

Image:
https://www.google.com/search?q=bacterial+culture+from+saliva&sxsrf=APq-WBvzcpJFP13xf
wkxuze2fSRmpPjWUA:1645283728320&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKE
widnLnBh4z2AhUG4YUKHSRiCq0Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=860&bih=702&dpr=
2#imgrc=BXD4JnJ2g0MNYM