Background: Herbs are being widely explored to discover alternatives to synthetic antibacterial agents.Small Cardamom often referred to as queen of spices because of its very pleasant aroma and taste, have a history as old as human race. Most people use cardamom as a spice and are largely unaware of its numerous health benefits. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of water and alcoholic cardamom extracts on sensitivities, growth, and adherence of Mutans streptococci in vitro. Materials and Methods: In this study, saliva was collected from ten volunteers (College students 18-22 years). Agar well technique was used to study the sensitivities of Mutans streptococci to different concentrations of s

Background: Small cardamom or green cardamom is the dried fruit of the tall perennial herbaceous plant, Elettaria cardamomum Maton belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. The major use of small cardamom on world wide is for domestic culinary purpose and in medicine. This study was conducted to test the effect of small cardamom extracts on Mutans streptococci and Candida Albicans in comparison to 0.2% chlorhexidine gluconate and de-ionized water in vivo. Materials and Methods: Mutans streptococci and Candid Albicans were isolated, purified and diagnosed according to morphological characteristic and biochemical test. In this experiments, the effect of control agents and small cardamom extracts as a mouth rinses was tested on the saliva

Background: Various herbal extracts are known to provide therapeutic benefits in the oral cavity when used topically. One of these herbs is cardamom which is a dried fruit of the tall permanent herbaceous plant, have its place in the family Zingiberaceae.
Objectives: Test the effect of green and black cardamom extracts on Lactobacilli in comparison to chlorhexidine gluconate 0.2% and de-ionized water.
Materials and methods: Dried fruits of green and black cardamom were extracted by using alcohol 70% ethanol. Saliva was collected from seven volunteers. Agar well technique with different concentrations of green and black cardamom extracts was used to test the sensitivities of Lactobacilli, as well the effects

Background: Antimicrobial agents have been considered as having potential for the prevention of dental caries. This study aimed to test the effect of different concentrations of cardamom and black tea extracts on the sensitivity and growth of salivary mutans streptococci in comparison to chlorhexidine gluconate (0.2%) in vitro. Materials and methods: In this study. Mutans streptococci were isolated from saliva of 34 healthy people (aged between 22-40yrs). The bacteria was isolated, purifiedand diagnosed according to morphologicalcharacteristic and biochemical tests. Aqueous extracts of cardamom and black tea were prepared. Different concentrations of extracts were prepared and estimated in gm/ 100ml deionized water. The agar diffusion techn

Background: The rhizome of ginger is used in cooking and for medicinal purposes such as anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. The aims of the study were to test the effect of ethanolic extract of ginger on growth, adherence and acidogenicity of mutans streptococci in comparison to chlorhexidine gluconate 0.2% and de-ionized water. Materials and methods: From saliva often volunteers (dental students 20-22 years); mutans streptococci was isolated, purified and diagnosed according to morphological characteristic and biochemical tests. Ginger was powdered and extracted, different concentrations of ginger extract were prepared. Chlorhexidine gluconate 0.2% used as a control positive; while de-ionized water was used as a

Background: The development of orthodontic biomaterials that attract less biofilm has been a goal for decades. Adhesion and colonization of cariogenic streptococci are considered to play key roles in the development of enamel demineralization related to orthodontic materials. The aim of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the Mutans streptococci adhesion to coated orthodontic archwires (Epoxy and Teflon) and uncoated archwires (stainless steel and nickel-titanium) with respect to incubation time in the presence and absence of saliva. Material and Method: Six types of archwires stainless steel and nickel titanium with two type of coating (Epoxy, Teflon) were used in this study. Twelve specimens of each archwire were incubated in steri

Background: The aim in vitro study was to isolate and identify salivary mutans Streptococci and determine the ability of Green Tea Extracts and Nicotine to inhibit Growth, Biofilm Formation by salivary mutans streptococci. Materials and methods: This study included a convenient sample of 40 Iraqi volunteers aged 18–23 years old from College of Dentistry \University of Baghdad. Commercial green tea and nicotine were prepared in different concentration to use in agar diffusion method for detect the activity of extract, and ELISA reader in MTP was used to determine the ability of salivary mutans Streptococci to form biofilm in the presence / and absent of extracts.to measure the biofilm inhibition rate. Results: Mutans Streptococci were s

Background: Alum has been used as a treatment medication in cases of oral and gingival ulcers, and also as antiseptic mouthwash. This study aimed to examine the effects of different concentrations of Alum on inhibition zone, viability counts and adherence ability of Mutans streptococci compared with deionized water and chlorhexidine gluconate in vitro. Materials and methods: The study dealt with an in vitro study to establish a concentration of Alum mouthrinse that would have the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bacteriocidal concentration. The second part evaluated the anti-adherence ability of the experimental agents. Results: This study found that the antibacterial effect of Alum increases with its concentration from 50 to 1

Background: Oral diseases persist to be a major health problem all over the world. Various bacteria and fungi are found to be the possible pathogensresponsible for the oral diseases. Moringa oleifera it is an extraordinary nutritious vegetable tree with many different uses. These leaves have high medicinal value. In the present study, antibacterial and antifungal activities of aqueous extracts of plant Moringa oleifera in comparison to chlorohexidene gluconate and deionized water were determined. Materials and methods: The leaves of plant of Moringa oleifera were collected from College of Pharmacy; Baghdad, Iraq. Tested microorganism (bacterial and fungal) was isolated from different clinical specimens. In-vitroantimicrobial activity was pe

Background: Nanoparticles are clusters of atoms in a size range from (1-100) nm. Nano dentistry creates amazing useful structures from individual atoms or molecules (nanoparticles), which provides a new alternative and a possibly superior strategy in prevention and treatment of dental caries through management of dental plaque biofilms. The aim of the study was to test the sensitivity of Streptococcus mutans to different concentrations of hydroxyapatite and iron oxide nanoparticles suspension solutions, in comparison to chlorhexidine, and de-ionized water, in vitro. Materials and methods: Agar well technique was applied to test the sensitivity of Streptococcus mutans to different concentrations of hydroxyapatite and iron oxide nanoparticle