Carretero Murillo, Mariana; Abbasi, Aisha; Cardozo, Jesus; Goolla, Sai
College of Science and Mathematics
Professor: Dr. Jacqueline Horn
The formation of oral biofilm in nonsmokers and smokers has shown to cause development of gingivitis and periodontal disease; however, recent research suggests that smoking may increase the risk of developing periodontitis. As such, it is becoming increasingly imperative to identify mouthwashes that are both safe and effective at removing biofilm for different individuals. In this experiment, various active ingredients in selective mouthwashes were tested to determine the most effective agent for biofilm reduction in young adult smokers and nonsmokers. Saliva samples from 5 smokers and 5 nonsmokers were collected, harvested and grown as biofilms in vitro. Following this, spectrophotometry was used to measure the biofilm concentrations of individual samples before and after mouthwash treatments through absorbance measurements. Results indicated increased biofilm formation in smokers’ samples than in nonsmokers’ samples before treatment; interestingly enough, subsequent mouthwash treatments in the latter group also showed a greater decrease in biofilm formation as compared to that of smokers. Ultimately, the data suggested that the active ingredient in Listerine, 0.02% sodium fluoride, was the most effective agent at removing biofilm in both smokers and nonsmokers.
