Abstract
BACKGROUND: The antibacterial property of new atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) materials incorporated with Azadirachta indica (Neem) on Streptococcus mutans was carried out. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out by using the agar diffusion method to determine the antibacterial property of ART materials (ART-I and ART-II). The zone of inhibition was tabulated, and the data was statistically analyzed using the student t-test. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) of the ethanolic extract of Neem were recorded. RESULTS: The MIC and MBC of the mixture of the ethanolic extract of Neem was 3.13% and 12.5% respectively. The zone of inhibition of ART-I and ART-II was 11.81 mm and 11.97 mm respectively. Significant differences were observed between these two ART materials (P = 0,08). CONCLUSION: Both the new ART materials i.e. ART-I and ART-II have considerable antibacterial activity against S. mutans.