Efficacy of Lippia sidoides Containing-Dentifrice in Children With Dental Caries: A Clinical Study

Dental caries is the most prevalent dental disease, especially in childhood, involved in a dynamic pathological process, rendering a microbial shift towards survival and overgrowth of acidogenic and aciduric bacterial species, in which the interaction of biofilm and exposure to carbohydrates is directly associated with lesion formation. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of a dentifrice containing 0.8% Lippia sidoides Cham oil (LSO) against Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) in children. This was a randomized and controlled study. Forty participants, aged between 6 and 12 years, of both sexes, with the presence of at least one carious lesion, were recruited to participate in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into two different groups. The first group (G1) received topical treatment with 0.8% LSO dentifrice, and the control received fluoridated common dentifrice (G2), for brushing their teeth for 1 min thrice a day. Saliva was collected at seven different times: the baseline (D0), after 5 days (D5), 15 days (D15), 30 days (D30), 60 days (D60), 180 days (D180), and after 1 year/365 days (D365). The LSO dentifrice group showed a significant reduction in S. mutans levels at day 30 compared with baseline (p  < 0.05), and this reduction was maintained at days 60, 180, and 365. In contrast, the control group demonstrated a temporary reduction at day 30, with bacterial levels returning to baseline by day 365. Intergroup comparisons revealed significantly lower S. mutans counts in the LSO group from day 30 onward, with differences persisting through 1 year (p  < 0.05). The LSO dentifrice 0.8%, when used thrice daily for 30 days, showed a greater reduction in S. mutans for up to 360 days when compared to common fluoride dentifrice in children with caries.