Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Introduction: In India, mango, neem and babool chewing twigs are considered a common way of cleaning teeth. Dental caries is steadily increasing in the underdeveloped and developing countries. These twigs possess medicinal properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of these chewing sticks on the caries causing microorganism, Streptococcus mutans. Aim: An invitro Comparative evaluation of effect of Magnifera indica (mango), Azadirachta indica (neem) and Acacia nilotica (babool) on Streptococcus mutans. Materials and Methods: The sticks of mango, neem and babool were grounded into coarse powder and weighed into 50gm amount. These were mixed to 100 ml of distilled water.  The sticks were soaked at 4°C for 48 hours and the mixture was filtered. Then each filtrate was inoculated onto blood agar plates and incubated at 37⁰C for 48 hrs. Results: Azadirachta indica (neem) extract produced maximum zone of inhibition on Streptococcus mutans at 50% concentration after 48 hours. Conclusion: From this study, it could be concluded that Azadirachta indica (neem) was more effective against Streptococcus mutans as compared to Magnifera indica (mango) and Acacia nilotica (babool) at the end of 1 week.
Keywords: Inhibition, Streptococcus mutans, Dental caries.