Antagonistic activity of a multi-functional gold standard chlorhexidine against Lactobacillus acidophilus isolated from childhood caries

Dental caries, second to common cold, remains one of the most prevalent chronic diseases that affect children and young adults globally. The world is now aiming to prevent this disease at an early stage and provide children the best quality of life. The background of this study chlorhexidine gluconate is an effective bactericidal agent and broad-spectrum antimicrobial drug. It has been extensively researched and is the “gold standard” antimicrobial in oral hygiene. Among different kind of microorganisms the cariogenic Lactobacillus acidophilus is recognized as a predominant pathogen in childhood caries. So plaque samples were collected from different dental clinics in and around Tirupur district. All the isolates were identified by biochemical characterization and 16SrDNA gene sequencing. Further, the potentially of Lactobacillus acidophilus in antimicrobial production was assessed. Lactic acid production by Lactobacillus acidophilus is partially growth associated and about 180.16 mg/ml of lactic acid/ml was synthesized in the oral cavity of childhood caries followed by quantification of organic acid and determination of pH value indicates that organic acid production was increased with the highest acidity (1.8%) was observed after 72 h of incubation and determination of H2O2 production by the isolates MTVG02, MTVG20, MTVG25, MTVG38 and MTVG46 are generated H202. The highest proportion was found among all cariogenic isolates, 5 out of 5 strain (100%) being positive. Finally antimicrobial efficacy of CHX was used at 2% concentration (50µl, 100µl and 150µl) against L. acidophilus. The gold standard CHX was used and it has proven efficacy as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial for reducing childhood plaque.