The effect of chlorhexidine and some other detergents on the activity of dextransucrase from Streptococcus mutans

The inhibitory effect of chlorhexidine and other bis-biguanides on the formation of dental plaque is not fully understood. The present paper describes the effect of chlorhexidine and some selected detergents on the activity of dextransucrase (EC 2.4.1.5.), an enzyme involved in the formation of important components of dental plaque. All detergents examined exerted an inhibitory effect on dextransucrase activity, to some degree dependent on the presence of charged groups and their characters. The high concentrations of chlorhexidine necessary to inhibit dextransucrase activity seem to exclude the possibility that chlorhexidine exerts its plaque inhibiting effect by means of an effect on dextransucrase.