Comparative evaluation of Antimicrobial Activity of Triphala and commercially available Toothpastes: An in-vitro study

Background: Triphala is an ayurvedic herbal formulation consisting of the dried fruits of three medicinal plants Terminalia chebula, Terminalia belerica and Phyllanthus embelica, which is used for conditions like headache, constipation, liver conditions and it possess anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antiaging properties. Aims: The present study was undertaken to assess the antimicrobial properties of Triphala in comparison with commercially available toothpastes. Materials and Methods. The standard stock culture of Streptococcus mutans strain from Microbial type culture collection (MTCC), Chandigarh and clinical culture of Streptococcus mutans isolated from the plaque samples of the patients were used. The antimicrobial activity of ethanol extracts of Triphala and commercially available toothpastes (Product 1and Product 2) against MTCC strain and clinical isolate of Streptococcus mutans was evaluated using agar gel diffusion method. Further, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)/Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) values were obtained using broth dilution method. Statistical analysis: The collected data were statistically analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to evaluate the differences. The threshold for the statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Results: The present study showed that Triphala has significant antimicrobial activity when compared to commercially available Product 1 and Product 2 toothpaste (P<0.05). Conclusions: Triphala has significant antimicrobial activity and thus can be employed as an effective anti-plaque agent and can be used in the prevention of dental caries. Since Triphala is of herbal nature, it can be easily extracted and is cost effective.