Abstract:

Malayali tribals of Kolli hills, Tamil Nadu, India use many plants for oral healthcare. An ethnomedicinal survey comprising field visits, collection of information using specific questionnaire was done to collect the medicinal plants used by them. The plants cited by the informants were collected and successively extracted with hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol and evaluated for their antimicrobial efficacy against four cariogenic clinical isolates. The MIC, anti-biofilm efficacy and GC-MS phytoconstituent identification were also done. This study identified 15 species that were commonly used by the Malayali tribals to maintain oral health and hygiene.