Iranian traditional medicine: Comparison of the antibacterial effect of ANNAS 0.2% and chlorhexidine 0.2%

Anbarnesa smoke have a long history of antimicrobial effects in Iranian traditional medicine. The present study compared the effect of ANNAS (extract of Anbarnesara smoke) mouth wash 0.2% and Chlorhexidine 0.2% against some bacterial species. In this experimental study, the specific culture mediums were used for each species and the antibacterial efficacies of the mouth rinses were determined by means of agar diffusion test (for measurement of inhibitory zone diameter (IZD)) and dilution method (for measurement minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC)). IZD and MIC were statistically analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-whitney U tests. Both mouth rinses of ANNAS 0.2% and Chlorhexidine 0.2% had similar inhibitory growth zone for different bacterial species which was significantly better than control specimens. Chlorhexidine 0.2% induced higher MIC values than ANNAS 0.2% for the streptococcus sanguis and Enterococcus faecalis species, while no significant differences were found between two agents regarding MIC values against the other bacteria. Chlorhexidine 0.2% and ANNAS 0.2% showed higher growth inhibitory effect than control specimens against all bacteria except for E. faecalis. ANNAS mouth rinse 0.2% has some antibacterial properties, but it is not as efficacious as Chlorhexidine 0.2% on some selected species, with no significant effect on the E. faecalis species.