RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of a mixture of plant extracts on the adherence and retention of bacteria in dental biofilm. STUDY DESIGN: Experimental study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Department of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from December 2009 to December 2011. METHODOLOGY: For determination of adhering ability, experimental pellicle was first treated with the Plant Extracts Mixture (PEM) before inoculating it with individual bacterial species (S. mitis / S. sanguinis / S. mutans). For the determination of retention ability, the procedure was repeated with the experimental pellicle being inoculated first with the individual bacterial species and then treating it with the PEM. These two experiments were repeated with deionized distilled water(negative control) and Thymol (0.64%) (positive control). The bacterial populations in biofilms for the two experiments were expressed as Colony Forming Unit (CFU) / mL x 10(4) and the corresponding values were expressed as mean ± SD. RESULTS: The effect of the Plant Extracts Mixture (PEM) for the two experiments was compared with that of Thymol and deionized distilled water. It was shown that there is a reduced adherence of bacteria to PEM-treated and Thymol (0.064%) treated experimental pellicle compared with the negative control (p < 0.001). It was also found that the retention of bacteria in both treated biofilms is also lower than that of negative control (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Plant Extracts Mixture (PEM) may influence the development of dental biofilm by affecting the adhering and retention capacities of the bacterial species in the dental biofilms.