Antibacterial Effect of Mastic Gum on Aerobic Oral Bacteria

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the antibacterial effect of mastic gum against the most common aerobic oral bacteria and
emphasized on oral streptococci.
Methodology: In this study 10 persons (males and females of 18-60 years old) were randomly assigned to chew
mastic gum (1.5 gm for 45 minutes). Mouth washes were collected before and after gum chewing .The two mouth
washes were diluted (10-1 – 10-6) and cultivated aerobically for 24 hours at 37C0 on BHI agar for total bacterial
count and on MSF agar for counting the oral streptococci.
Results: The results showed that the total bacterial count for staphylococci, Neisseria and oral streptococci on BHI
agar and MSF agar for oral streptococci after mastic chewing were highly reduced and arrived to more than 5
grades according to statistical analysis.
Recommendations: To keep your mouth healthy we recommended the followings : Chewing of mastic gum daily ,
using oral mastic products such as toothpaste and mouthwash, and incorporation of mastic as powder with some
type of foods.