title: The effect of Piper betle and Psidium guajava extracts on the cell-surface hydrophobicity of selected early settlers of dental plaque.
abstract: The adhesion of early settlers of dental plaque to the tooth surface has a role in the initiation of the development of dental plaque. The hydrophobic surface properties of the bacteria cell wall are indirectly responsible for the adhesion of the bacteria cell to the acquired pellicle on the tooth surfaces. In this study, the effect of aqueous extract of two plants (Psidium guajava and Piper betle) on the cell-surface hydro-phobicity of early settlers of dental plaque was determined in vitro. Hexadecane, a hydrocarbon was used to represent the hydrophobic surface of the teeth in the oral cavity. It was found that treatment of the early plaque settlers with 1 mg/ml extract of Psidium guajava reduced the cell-surface hydrophobicity of Strep. sanguinis, Strep. mitis and Actinomyces sp. by 54.1%, 49.9% and 40.6%, respectively. Treatment of these bacteria with the same concentration of Piper betle however, showed a comparatively lesser effect (< 10%). It was also observed that the anti-adhesive effect of the two extracts on the binding of the early plaque settlers to hexadecane is concentration dependent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. fathilah@um.edu.my
authors.forename: Fathilah Abdul
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Razak
authors.forename: Rofina Yasmin
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Othman
authors.forename: Zubaidah Haji Abd
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Rahim
mesh_terms: D000190:Actinomyces / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects*; D044622:Dental Pellicle / Q000382:microbiology; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D031721:Piper betle; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D031647:Psidium; D034361:Streptococcus mitis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013298:Streptococcus sanguis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013499:Surface Properties / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts