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.