Comparative Evaluation of Antibacterial Effect of Propolis and Aloe Vera, Xylitol, and Cpp-Acp Gels on Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus in Vitro

Influence of nanohydroxyapatite mouthwash on the growth of Candida albicans biofilm on milled denture surfaces: An in vitro study

PURPOSE

There is a need for effective solutions for the persistent prevalence of denture stomatitis (DS) in denture-wearing populations. This study assessed the impact of nanohydroxyapatite (nanoHAP) nanoparticles on Candida albicans biofilm formation on milled polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) denture bases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Acquired salivary pellicle was formed on disks milled from a prepolymerized PMMA puck. The disks were assigned to two groups, A (n = 18) and B (n = 18), and each group was further subdivided into three subgroups (6/subgroup), each treated with either Polident solution (antibacterial denture cleanser), nanoHAP mouthwash, or distilled water. Disks in group A subgroups were soaked in their respective treatment solutions for 8 h, followed by biofilm formation on the disk for 24 h. Disks in group B subgroups had C. albicans biofilm formed on them for 24 h, followed by soaking in their respective treatment solutions for 8 h. Biofilm thickness, biomass, and live/dead cell ratio were determined using a confocal laser scanning microscope. Biofilm morphology was examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer multiple comparisons (α = 0.05).

RESULTS

In group A, nanoHAP mouthwash displayed significant anti-adhesive properties. In group B, biofilm biomass and thickness significantly decreased (p < 0.05), with the nanoHAP showing the most substantial reduction in existing biofilm compared to other solutions, but it did not significantly affect cell viability.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrated the efficacy of nanoHAP mouthwash in inhibiting C. albicans biofilm formation when used as a storage medium for acrylic dentures. It suggests its potential clinical application for preventing denture stomatitis in patients.

Natural Materials' Potential as Alternative Teeth Remineralization Agents: A Scoping Review

Dental caries is one of the world's major oral health issues. According to The Burden of Disease Study (2016), almost half of the world's population suffers oral health issues, particularly dental caries (3.58 billion individuals). Dental caries treatment through teeth remineralization can be conducted naturally or using remineralization agents. The aim of this study was to map the scientific evidence of natural materials' potential as teeth remineralization agents. The method utilized in this study was the scoping review following the guideline of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Review, that is, article searching using search strategies, article screening, data extraction, and conclusion constructing. The searching process was through PubMed, EBSCOhost, and ScienceDirect using keywords and following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty articles were found and further analyzed. All articles provided the natural materials' potencies in the perspective of antibacterial, increasing saliva pH, remineralization ability, and increasing the hardness of teeth surface. It can be concluded that natural materials can potentially be alternative teeth remineralization agents.

Bioactive Analysis of Antibacterial Efficacy and Antioxidant Potential of Aloe barbadensis Miller Leaf Extracts and Exploration of Secondary Metabolites Using GC-MS Profiling

Aloe barbadensis Miller (ABM) is a traditional medicinal plant all over the world. Numerous studies were conducted to exhibit its medicinal properties and most of them were concentrated on its metabolites against human pathogens. The current research work evaluates the attributes of different polar-based extracts (ethanol, methanol, ethyl acetate, acetone, hexane, and petroleum ether) of dried Aloe barbadensis leaf (ABL) to investigate its phytochemical constituents, antioxidant potential (DPPH, ABTS), phenolic, tannin, flavonoid contents, identification of bioactive compounds, and functional groups by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) respectively, and comparing antibacterial efficacy against human pathogens, aquatic bacterial pathogens, and zoonotic bacteria associated with fish and human. The present results showed that the methanolic extract of ABL showed higher antioxidant activity (DPPH-59.73 ± 2.01%; ABTS-74.1 ± 1.29%), total phenolic (10.660 ± 1.242 mg GAE/g), tannin (7.158 ± 0.668 mg TAE/g), and flavonoid content (49.545 ± 1.928 µg QE/g) than that of other solvent extracts. Non-polar solvents hexane and petroleum ether exhibited lesser activity among the extracts. In the case of antibacterial activity, higher inhibition zone was recorded in methanol extract of ABL (25.00 ± 0.70 mm) against Aeromonas salmonicida. Variations in antibacterial activity were observed depending on solvents and extracts. In the current study, polar solvents revealed higher antibacterial activity when compared to the non-polar and the mid-polar solvents. Diverse crucial bioactive compounds were detected in GC-MS analysis. The vital compounds were hexadecanoic acid (30.69%) and 2-pentanone, 4-hydroxy-4-methyl (23.77%) which are responsible for higher antioxidant and antibacterial activity. Similar functional groups were identified in all the solvent extracts of ABL with slight variations in the FT-IR analysis. Polar-based solvent extraction influenced the elution of phytocompounds more than that of the other solvents used in this study. The obtained results suggested that the ABM could be an excellent source for antioxidant and antibacterial activities and can also serve as a potential source of effective bioactive compounds to combat human as well as aquatic pathogens.

Effect of experimental and commercial artificial saliva formulations on the activity and viability of microcosm biofilm and on enamel demineralization for irradiated patients with head and neck cancer (HNC)

The effect of different artificial saliva formulations on biofilm activity and viability, and on enamel demineralization for head and neck cancer (HNC) patients was evaluated. Irradiated enamel samples were treated (1 min) with BioXtra® or with experimental formulations containing carboxymethylcellulose plus inorganic constituents alone (AS) or containing 0.1 mg mL^-1 CaneCPI-5 (AS + Cane), 1.0 mg mL^-1 hemoglobin (AS + Hb) or combination of both (AS + Cane + Hb). Phosphate-buffered-saline and chlorhexidine (0.12%) were negative and positive control, respectively. Biofilm was produced from the saliva of five male HNC patients, under 0.2% sucrose exposure for 5 days, and daily treated with the formulations (1 min). No significant effects were observed for the different experimental treatments. BioXtra^® significantly reduced lactobacilli, demonstrating antibacterial potential for this group. Chlorhexidine was an effective treatment to significantly reduce all parameters, being an important antimicrobial and anticaries agent. Future in vitro studies must be performed using a new approach for the design of the experimental formulations.