title: The antimicrobial activity of essential oils and essential oil components towards oral bacteria.
abstract: A method for reproducibly determining minimal inhibitory concentrations and minimal bactericidal concentrations of plant extracts towards fastidiously and facultatively anaerobic oral bacteria, predicated upon measurements of optical densities in microtitre plate wells, was devised. The antimicrobial properties of some botanical oils were surveyed; of these, Australian tea tree oil, peppermint oil, and sage oil proved to be the most potent essential oils, whereas thymol and eugenol were potent essential oil components.
mesh_terms: D016924:Actinomyces viscosus / Q000187:drug effects; D016976:Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans / Q000187:drug effects; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000187:drug effects*; D001438:Bacteroidaceae / Q000187:drug effects; D002206:Capnocytophaga / Q000187:drug effects; D004336:Drug Antagonism; D004357:Drug Synergism; D016124:Eikenella corrodens / Q000187:drug effects; D005054:Eugenol / Q000494:pharmacology; D005566:Formocresols / Q000494:pharmacology; D016967:Fusobacterium nucleatum / Q000187:drug effects; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010462:Peptostreptococcus / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016966:Porphyromonas gingivalis / Q000187:drug effects; D018720:Prevotella / Q000187:drug effects; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000187:drug effects; D013943:Thymol / Q000494:pharmacology; D014208:Treponema / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D005566:Formocresols; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010938:Plant Oils; C031025:formocresol; D013943:Thymol; D005054:Eugenol