Cariostatic Effcacy of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts of Liquorice in the Schoolchildren: In Vivo Comparative Study

Abstract

Aim: The present study was done to evaluate the in vivo cariostatic efcacy of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of liquorice to ascertain whether it could be developed into a caries-preventive regimen basically targeted for use in the pediatric population. Materials and methods: Thirty schoolchildren of 6–12-year-old were selected for the study. Powder of Glycyrrhiza glabra is used to prepare the gel with various concentration of aqueous and ethanolic liquorice gel. The preweighed dose was delivered through the vials. The drug concentrations were based on their respective minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values against Streptococcus mutans, which were calculated earlier. And it is divided into three groups, i.e., group I: aqueous liquorice extract 1.75 g/10 mL saline, group II: ethanolic liquorice extract 350 mg/10 mL, and group III: hexidine (0.2% chlorhexidine, CHX). For statistical analysis, Tukey’s post hoc with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t test were applied. Results: It was found that hexigel has a potential antibacterial activity against S. mutans, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 3.14 ± 2.02. Ethanolic liquorice shows MIC of 2.15 ± 0.91 and aqueous liquorice shows MIC of 1.30 ± 1.08. Tukey’s post hoc test showed statistically nonsignifcant diference between hexigel and ethanolic liquorice against S. mutans. Conclusion: On conclusion, the present study found that hexigel was better than both the ethanolic and aqueous solutions of liquorice. And ethanolic liquorice was found to be better than aqueous solution, but it was not statistically signifcant, which could be due to the small sample size. Clinical signifcance: Dental caries is one of the most common infectious microbial diseases. Various steps have been taken to prevent dental caries, fuoride being the most common among them. Nowadays, G. glabra, commonly known as liquorice (mulethi), is one such medicinal plant used by various cultures for thousands of years to relieve coughs, sore throats, and gastric infammation. This drug in our study demonstrated inhibitory efect on the growth of S. mutans.