Evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of Extracts of Terminalia chebula and Piper nigrum against Streptococcus mutans: An In Vitro Study

Objective: Dental caries is an infectious disease in which S. mutans plays a key role. Haphazard and irrational use of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance and fatal diarrhoeal diseases in children. Antimicrobial potency of Terminalia chebula and Piper nigrum extracts against several bacterial strains have been documented. The aims of this study were to assess and compare the antimicrobial activities of T. chebula and P. nigrum extracts against S. mutans with Ciprofloxacin as the positive control. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, S. mutans was isolated from plaque samples of people with active caries lesions.  Antimicrobial potency of both T. chebula and P.nigrum were tested using agar well diffusion method. Results: All the tested extracts showed antibacterial activity against S. mutans bacteria. Regarding the two tested herbs extracts, a higher antimicrobial activity was shown by the methanol extract of T. chebula with a mean diameter of inhibition zone was 26.75mm and a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) at 25mg /ml concentration followed by acetonic extract. Conclusion: These findings confirm the Antimicrobial potency of T. chebula which can be used as an alternative antibiotic and/or in combination with allopathic antibiotics to prevent the antibiotic resistance.