Effect of hydroalcoholic extract of whole pomegranate fruit on cariogenic bacteria and its clinical effect on dental plaque formation in 8-10-year-old children

• Published in: Dental research journal 2023, Vol.20 (1), p.114-114
• Main Authors: Mahd, Mandana Alamdari, Aref, Parisa, Emadi, Fatemeh, Javadi, Farnaz, Kharazi Fard, Mohammad Javad, Tavassoli-Hojjati, Sara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Original
• ISSN: 1735-3327; 2008-0255
• DOI: 10.4103/drj.drj_173_23

This study aimed to assess the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of the whole pomegranate fruit on ( ) and ( ) and its clinical effect on dental plaque formation in 8-10-year-old children. This study was conducted in two phases of and clinical trial. In the phase, the antibacterial effect of 50%-50% hydroalcoholic extract of whole pomegranate fruit on and was assessed by the disc diffusion test. In the double-blind cross-over clinical trial phase, 14 children between 8 and 10 years were randomly assigned to two groups of 38% pomegranate mouthwash and 0.12% chlorhexidine (CHX) after assessing their baseline dental plaque by oral hygiene index-simplified (OHI-S). The children were asked not to use any other plaque control measure during the study. Their OHI-S score was measured again after 5 and 14 days using disclosing tablets. Data were analyzed by -test and paired -test at 0.05 level of significance. The hydroalcoholic extract of pomegranate showed a positive antibacterial effect on and . However, its inhibitory effect was significantly lower than that of 0.12% CHX ( < 0.05). None of the tested mouthwashes inhibited plaque formation, but pomegranate mouthwash and CHX decreased the OHI-S score by 34% and 36%, respectively ( < 0.05), with no significant difference between them ( > 0.05). The whole pomegranate fruit hydroalcoholic extract showed significant inhibitory effects on and . Furthermore, 38% pomegranate mouthwash had a comparable efficacy to CHX in the reduction of dental plaque.