Coffee pulp: From a by-product of coffee production to a potential anticariogenic mouth rinse! An in vivo study.

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVES

Dental caries is a prevalent disease despite various efforts made toward its prevention. The drawbacks of the available preventive agents have led to the quest for a potentially more effective agent with fewer adverse effects. Coffee, a local produce of Coorg, is one such herbal alternative. This study aims to assess the potential antimicrobial activity of Robusta coffee pulp extracts on Streptococcus mutans.

METHODOLOGY: A total of 39 participants were divided into three groups with 13 participants each, after obtaining ethical clearance and informed consent: Group A (negative control), sterile water; Group B (positive control), 0.2% chlorhexidine mouth rinse; and Group C, 2.5% coffee pulp extract rinse (prepared according to minimum inhibitory concentration). The saliva samples were collected from the patients in a sterile Eppendorf tube at prerinse for baseline, at 1-h postrinse, and at the end of 2 weeks. The S. mutans colony count was done using image-based software analysis. The acquired data were statistically analyzed with one-way ANOVA and repeated measures ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey's test.

RESULTS

Coffee pulp mouth rinse (P = 0.035) and positive control (P = 0.036) groups showed a statistically significant reduction in the microbial count at 2 weeks postrinse (compared to the negative control group).

CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The coffee pulp extract-based mouth rinse is a potential anticariogenic agent that offers few advantages over chlorhexidine as no instances of staining, altered taste, or any allergic reactions were reported by the subjects.