Effect of green tea mouth rinse on Streptococcus mutans in plaque and saliva in children: An in vivo study.

AIMS: This study was conducted to evaluate and compare the antimicrobial efficacy of green tea catechin as a mouth wash on colony count of Streptococcus mutans in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample size of thirty children was selected out of screened 290 children by simple random sampling between the age group of 7 and 12 years. The study was conducted over a period of 2 weeks. After 24 h of oral prophylaxis, the baseline samples were collected and each group was subjected to mouth rinsing with green tea mouth wash for 2 weeks and further plaque and saliva samples were collected at 1- and 2-week intervals from baseline. Microbiological analysis of plaque and saliva samples was done by Dentocult SM strip kit (Orion Diagnostica, Finland), and the results were statistically analyzed and tabulated. RESULTS: Statistically, there was highly significant reduction in S. mutans count in plaque as well as in saliva for after 1- and 2-week intervals from baseline. CONCLUSION: Hence, finally, our study showed that green tea catechin is effective as a mouth wash against S. mutans and having better action in plaque as compared to saliva. It can be used as an adjunct to commercially available mouthwashes.

Clinical and radiographic evaluation of zinc oxide with aloe vera as an obturating material in pulpectomy: an in vivo study.

BACKGROUND: Pulp therapy for pulpally involved primary teeth continues to be a challenge to clinicians. One of the major areas of continued research is in the area of finding obturating materials to suit the specific properties of these teeth. Zinc oxide eugenol is used frequently in pulpectomy for the obturation of the primary teeth. AIMS: To evaluate clinically and radiographically a mixture of zinc oxide eugenol and aloe vera as an obturating material. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 50 children, aged between 4 and 9 years, who were screened for unilateral or bilateral carious deciduous molars were studied. Out of these, 15 children were randomly selected for endodontic treatment. Obturation was done with a mixture of zinc oxide powder and aloe vera gel. Clinical and radiographic evaluation was done after 7 days, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months. The data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Endodontic treatment using a mixture of zinc oxide powder and aloe vera gel in primary teeth has shown good clinical and radiographic success. A detailed observational study with longer follow-up will highlight the benefits of aloe vera in primary teeth as an obturating medium.