ABSTRACT:
Since the middle ages, essential oils have been widely used for bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, antiparasitical, insecticidal, medicinal and cosmetic applications, especially nowadays in pharmaceutical, sanitary, cosmetic, and agricultural and food industries. Because of the mode of extraction, mostly by distillation from aromatic plants, they contain a variety of volatile molecules such as terpenes and terpenoids, phenol-derived aromatic components and aliphatic components. So the aim of the present study was to evaluate the role of essential oils Wintergreen and Rosemary oil in prevention of dental caries worldwide. Their curative effect has been known since antiquity. It is based on a variety of pharmacological properties which are specific for each plant species. Antibacterial activity of the two essential oils, Wintergreen and Rosemary oil were screened against Streptococcus mutans, using disc diffusion technique. The results of this study showed that the extracts at different concentrations exhibited anti bacterial activity against the bacterial species tested.