In vitro study demonstrates essential oil and solubilizer solutions inhibit oral biofilms on thermoformable material, suggesting potential for antimicrobial orthodontic devices.
Key Points
To evaluate the antibacterial, antibiofilm, and anti-inflammatory activities of an essential oil solution loaded into a cellulose-based thermoformable dental material.
Tested an essential oil (EO) solution—containing cinnamaldehyde, methyl salicylate, eucalyptol, limonene, and trans-anethole dissolved with polyglycerol-4-laurate/sebacate (basic solution)—against selected oral bacteria.
Cultured multispecies biofilms on cellulose-based material loaded with EO or basic solution and compared outcomes against polyurethane material loaded with 0.2% chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX).
Measured interleukin-8 (IL-8) secretion from bacterial-stimulated gingival fibroblasts exposed to the experimental solutions to assess anti-inflammatory activity.
The EO solution inhibited bacterial growth and reduced biofilm metabolic activity, while the basic solubilizer solution also inhibited growth at higher concentrations and reduced overall biofilm mass and colony-forming unit counts.
The polyglyceryl-laurate-based basic solution performed noninferiorly in reducing biofilm mass compared to CHX loaded on the reference material.
Only the basic solution suppressed IL-8 release from bacteria-stimulated gingival fibroblasts, whereas the EO solution did not demonstrate anti-inflammatory suppression.