15th National Conference and Scientific Meeting August 21st -25th, 2017 A comparative study of the Antimicrobial activity of selected Herbal Toothpastes and their Non-Herbal counterparts against Oral isolates in Sagamu, Nigeria. Florence O. Odeleye, Mark O. Akpotu*, Anuoluwapo E. Adebesin Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sagamu Campus, Ogun State, Nigeria. *Corresponding author: markakpotu@yahoo.com Result Background In recent years in Nigeria, there has been an upsurge in the release and utilization of herbal toothpastes alongside non–herbal ones that had been in use to improve oral health. Objective of Study This study was carried out to compare the antimicrobial activity of herbal toothpastes and their non-herbal counterparts against oral isolates. Methodology Microorganisms were isolated from early morning mouth rinses of volunteer subjects at Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University and identified using standard protocols. A total of eight brands of toothpaste labeled A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H were procured, diluted into three different concentrations of 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 by two-fold serial dilution and tested for their antimicrobial activity against the oral isolates using a modified agar well diffusion method (Ngwai et al., 2010). Inhibition zone diameters (IZDs) were measured in millimetres after 24h incubation at 250C (fungal isolates) and 370C (bacterial isolates) respectively. Result analysis was done by SPSS version 18 using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and significance taken at p<0.05. Concentration (g/ml) Toothpastes (g) FIGURE 1: Antimicrobial activity of the Tooth pastes against the Oral isolates Discussion The herbal toothpastes (A, B, C, D) gave higher IZDs than the non-herbal ones (E, F, G, H) in tandem with earlier studies. This could be due to the secondary metabolites in the herbal additives, known to have great antimicrobial properties (Nwankwo and Ihesiulo, 2014; Awah, 2016). Conclusion The result showed that the herbal toothpastes were marginally better in the inhibition of the oral isolates than the non-herbal ones, though their overall difference is not significant, necessitating further studies. References Awah NS, Agu KC, Okorie CC, Okeke CB, Iloanusi CA, Irondi CR, Udemezue OI, Kyrian-Ogbonna AE, Anaukwu CG, Eneite HC, Ifediegwu MC, Umeoduagu ND, Abah NH & Ekong US (2016). In-vitro assessment of antibacterial quality of some commonly used herbal and non-herbal toothpastes on Streptococcus mutans. Open Journal of Dentistry and Oral Medicine 4(2): 21-25. Ngwai YB, Akpotu MO, Obidake RE, Sounyo AA, Onanuga AA & Origbo OO (2010). Antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli andother coliforms isolated from urine of asymptomatic students in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. African Journal of Microbiology Research 5(3): 184-191. Nwankwo IU & Ihesiulo SC (2014). Comparative Analysis of the Antibacterial Potentials of Some Brands of Toothpaste Commonly Used In Umuahia Abia State. IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences 9(3): 50-54. KEY- SA: Staphylococcus aureus; PA: Pseudomonas aeruginosa; CA: Candida albicans