Evaluation of Preventive Antibacterial Properties of a Glass-Ionomer Cement Containing Purified Powder of Salvia officinalis: An In vitro Study

Background: In this study, the anti- Streptococcus mutans and anti- Lactobacillus casei properties of a restorative glass-ionomer cement (GIC) modified with extract powder of Salvia officinalis as a safe and effective herbal extract at weight concentration levels of 0.5%, 0.75%, 1%, and 1.25% are investigated. Methods: The S. officinalis extract powder is provided by doing a multistep laboratory procedure and is filtered to obtain particles smaller than 50 μ. The GIC powder is modified by adding extract powder in weight concentrations of 0.5% (Group II), 0.75% (Group III), 1% (Group IV), and 1.25% (Group V) to form experimental groups, each of 1 g. Five disk-shaped samples, 1 cm in diameter and 2 mm height, of each group (including control group [Group I]) are prepared for each bacterial category of S. mutans and L. casei . The twenty-five samples for each category are tested in vitro against strains of S. mutans and L. casei . Following Agar diffusion tests, the inhibition zone diameters are recorded. The data are tested for normality by means of Kolmogorov–Smirnov procedure. The Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests are used to perform a one-way ANOVA and to do pair-wise comparisons, respectively, at 5% significance level. Results: The mean diameter of the inhibition zones are significantly different among the test groups and also the test groups and the control group except for the group with 0.5% in L. casei category which shows no significant difference with the control group. Conclusions: The present study revealed direct inhibitory activities of S. officinalis -containing GIC against S. mutans and L. casei in a dose-response manner.