Microbial contamination of a hexetidine mouth wash

Twenty different bottles of a mouth wash containing 0.05% hexetidine as an active ingredient were examined for their microbiral contents. The results showed that all the tested bottles were contaminated with bacteria. Nine out of the twenty bottles contained more than 10(4) CFU/ml. Staphylococcus aureus was detected in one bottle, while Pseudomonas species were found in four bottles. Fungi were detected in 10 bottles, a fungal count of more than 100 fungus/ml were found in 12 out of the 19. Yeasts were detected in 16 bottles, Candida species were the most predominant with a rate of 11 out of the 16, while Saccharomyces species were found in 5 out of the 16. C. albicans, a definite oral pathogen, was found in 3 bottles.