THE EFFICACY OF EXTRACTS FROM MANGO (Mangifera indica) STEM IN THE TREATMENT OF TOOTHACHE

The causative factors behind toothache include tooth decay or fracture, abscessed tooth, or infected gums. Over 750 species of bacteria inhabit the oral cavity and a number of these are implicated in oral diseases including toothaches.The efficacy of Mango stem extract can be used for the inhibition of pathogens causing human toothache was investigated. Ethanol was used as solvent for extraction. Two human pathogens; Streptococcus mutans which is a bacterial pathogen and Aspergillus niger which is a fungal pathogen were employed in this study. The inhibitory effects of the ethanol extract Mangifera indica on the test organisms were conducted using the agar well diffusion method of antimicrobial assay. Antibacteria (Amoxicillin) and Antifungal (Fluconazole) served as the control. A sub culture process was carried out to enable proper identification of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (M.I.C) of 3 different tooth samples (T1,T2,T3). This process was carried out using the mango stem extract introduced in drops (0.5ml,0.10ml,0.15ml) in 9 petri dishes respectively for both fungi (Amoxicillin) and bacteria (Fluconazole) media. The result shows that the mean total zone of inhibition of T2 (3.53) by mango extract is higher T1(2.90) and T3(3.10). When compared with the control, the mean total zone of inhibition becomes higher when the extract is being introduced in large amount (0.15>). So in a bacteria media the higher the mango extract is introduced the more the inhibition zone increases (Table 1). There are significant differences in the inhibition effects of the plant extracts and the susceptibility of the human pathogens (P<0.05). While in fungi media the mean total zone of inhibition of T3 (3.36) by mango extract is higher T1(2.83) and T3(3.20). When compared with the control, the mean total zone of inhibition becomes lower when the extract is being introduced in large amount (0.5<). From the result it shows that the bark extract of mango is very active in treatment of toothache in the sense that the extract possess potential inhibitory activity against human pathogens in vitro to varying degrees.