Original article
English
Mohamed Fadel1 and Mohamed Elkabir2
1- Faculty of Dentistry, Al-Fateh University, Tripoli, Libya.
2- Tripoli Medical Centre. Tripoli- Libya
JMJ Vol.6 No.1 (Autumn) 2006: 36-39
Abstract
Oral malodour is mainly due to volatile sulphur compounds (VSC). The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of different reagents to reduce VSC production by oral microorganisms in vitro, and comparatively assess the degree of bacterial growth. A Halimeter™ (Interscan Corp., Chatsworth, CA) was used to enable VSC detection in saliva. Samples of saliva were collected from ten healthy individuals, incubated at 37°C for 24 hours, in presence or absence of the following reagents; Vitamin C, Citric acid (with or without chitosan), Calcium, Glucose, Magnesium, Manganese, and Zinc. The results showed a decrease of VSC production varying from 29.9+ 3.1 % (magnesium), to 9.8 + 1.5 % (citric acid plus chitosan), and no VSC inhibition was achieved with calcium alone 91.7 + 8.6 %, of control values. Interestingly the citric acid with chitosan decreased also the bacterial growth down to 43.7 + 2.0 % of the control values of CFU-total bacteria. All the differences were statistically significant (ANOVA, at least p < 0.05). In conclusion malodour inhibition by the above-mentioned reagents was ascertained. The inhibitory effect of glucose pointed out the shift of metabolism in the presence of this metabolite. Keywords: Saliva, Volatile sulphur compounds, Volatile/analysis, Halitosis, Tongue coating, Chitosan Link/DOI: http://www.jmj.org.ly/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1161