A comparison of the antifungal activity of herbal toothpastes against other brands of toothpastes on clinical isolates of Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis.

Objectives: To evaluate the anti-Candida activity on Candida albicans and Candida dubliniensis species of 2 herbal and 7 other brands of toothpastes commonly used in Kuwait.

Materials And Methods: Antifungal activity was determined by agar diffusion test on 65 isolates of C. albicans and 21 isolates of C. dubliniensis for each toothpaste. A uniform quantity of toothpaste was filled into wells punched into Sabouraud dextrose agar medium plates inoculated with the test isolates, incubated at 37°C; inhibition zone diameters were read after 24 h.

Results: The mean inhibition zone diameters ranged between 12 and 23 mm for C. albicans and between 12 and 27 mm for C. dubliniensis. A herbal toothpaste brand manufactured in the Middle Eastern region (United Arab Emirates) consisting of many herbal ingredients compared to other brands was found to be the most active (p < 0.001) against both Candida species tested, which also demonstrated higher inhibitory activity against C. dubliniensis isolates compared to C. albicans.

Conclusions: The herbal toothpaste brand presented significant anticandidal activity over conventional toothpastes and may be useful in reducing the pathogenic potential of Candida species.