ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study is to assess the microbial quality as well as the effectiveness of seven brands of toothpaste marketed  in Ubani in Umuahia, Abia State for reducing oral flora. Of the seven brands, five contained Sodium Flouride as the antimicrobial agent, one contained Sodium Fluoride and herbal and one was herbal. Each of the toothpaste products were assessed for microbial safety based on growth on Nutrient agar. Five oral isolates were used to determine the antimicrobial efficacy of the various toothpastes in reducing oral flora (E.coli, S.aureus, Streptococcus sp, Lactobacillus sp and C.albicans) by well diffusion method. The zones of inhibition were measured using a metre rule and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration as well as the Minimum Bacteriocidal and Fungicidal Concentrations of these toothpastes were also determined using broth dilution method. Statistical analysis were done using the one way Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) and all the toothpastes were statistically significant ( p< 0.05). The difference between the treatments were compared using Least Statistical Difference. Based on this study, toothpaste B (Pepsodent) exerted the greatest effect in reducing oral flora, followed by C (Darbur herbal) , F (Colgate) , E (Close up naija), D (Oral-B), A (Close up) and the least was toothpaste G (Sensodyne).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certification i

Dedication ii

Acknowledgement iii

Table of contents iv

List of Tables vi

List of Figures vii

List of Plates viii

Abstract ix

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction 1

1.1 Background of study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives 1

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature review 4

2.1 History of Toothpaste 4

2.2 Classification of Toothpaste 5

2.3 Types of Toothpaste 5

2.4 Composition of  Toothpaste 7

2.5 Oral organisms 10

2.6 Oral Health 11

2.7 Causes of Dental caries 11

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Materials and Method 14

3.1 Collection of sample 14

3.2 Sterility Test 14

3.3 Culture media preparation 15

3.4 Isolation of Microorganism 15

3.5 Characterization and identification of isolate 16

3.6  Antimicrobial Assay by modified agar well diffusion method 18

3.7 Determination of Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of various the toothpaste to Isolates                19

3.8 Statistical analysis            19

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Results 20

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Discussion 38

5.1  Conclusion 41

5.3  Recommendation 41

REFERENCES

APPENDIX