Comparative Assessment of the Antibacterial Efficacy of Natural Products and Chlorhexidine Mouthwash against Streptococcus Mutans: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Dental caries is still an existing challenge worldwide and continues to be the most prevalent of all oral infectious diseases. Mutans streptococci have been identified as the causative organism for dental caries and the elimination or reduction of such pathogenic bacteria is beneficial in controlling dental caries. This can be achieved by the addition of an anti-microbial mouth rinse to daily oral hygiene regimens. In accordance with the existing mouth rinses in which the effectiveness has been proved time and again, comes with a set of drawbacks which cannot be overlooked. Hence, natural alternatives have been focused on as the need of the hour. Natural products have been proven to be safe, consisting of biologically active compounds which may have potential therapeutic uses in dentistry. Aim: To compare and evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of natural products and chlorhexidine on Streptococcus mutans. Materials and Methods: The following databases were searched: PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, LILACS, Science direct, Google scholar until December 2017. The primary outcome was to evaluate antibacterial efficacy of natural products and chlorhexidine mouthwash on Streptococcus mutans. Results: The results showed that natural products exerted almost similar antibacterial effect against Streptococcus mutans when compared with chlorhexidine. Conclusion: The present systematic review does not provide concrete evidence to show increased antibacterial efficacy of natural products as compared to chlorhexidine.