Antibacterial Activity of Aloe schweinfurthii Gel in the Preservation of Periodontal Ligament Cells of an Erupted Immature Permanent Tooth

Effective management of an expelled tooth requires its rapid transport to the dental office, in a liquid adapted to cell survival. For this, some preservation media have been evaluated in tropical areas with regenerative and antibacterial properties. These inaccessible and/or non-regenerative media have pushed our research towards alternative media including Aloe schunfurthii. Our general objective was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of Aloe schweinfurthii gel on the survival of periodontal ligament cells of an expelled immature permanent tooth. To achieve this objective, we conducted an experimental study. It was carried out at the Yaoundé University Hospital on extracted immature permanent premolars that were preserved in Aloe schweinfurthii gel at different dilutions and pH. Cell vitality was read using optical microscopy after aqueous eosin staining at three-hour intervals. The antibacterial activity was determined from bacterial samples of the periodontal ligaments of the premolars according to three successive steps ranging from the culture of the bacterial strains to the determination of the diameters and the inhibition parameters. The Chi 2 test was used to compare the vitality of the different media. The methodology used allowed us to obtain results which showed that the Aloe schweinfurthii gel had a CMB/MIC ratio lower than 4, revealing a bactericidal activity on all the bacteria tested. The results obtained allowed us to conclude that the Aloe schweinfurthii gel is bactericidal in the conservation of the cells of the periodontal ligaments of an expelled immature permanent tooth.