Candida albicans is among the commonest causes of oral candidiasis, a disease that is mostly related to the mouth. The growing resistance of Candida species to traditional antifungal drugs has highlighted that the development of useful non-pharmacological options is needed. The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify Candida albicans in the oral and peri-dental samples and to test the antifungal effects of Tea Tree Oil as a natural antifungal agent.
One hundred and forty-six samples in total of oral and peri-dental samples were collected and grown in Sabouraud Dextrose Agar. Chromogenic Candida Agar and microscopic analysis were done to identify phenotypes which were further confirmed by VITEK 2 Compact system. Tea Tree Oil was chemically characterized by Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. The agar well diffusion method was used in the evaluation of antifungal activity and also the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum fungicidal concentration.
Out of 146 collected samples, 53 (36.3%) showed positive growth for Candida species. Among these isolates, Candida albicans was the predominant species, identified in 36 samples (67.9% of positive isolates).
The gas chromatography analysis indicated that the terpinen-4-ol was the most significant constituent of Tea Tree Oil, and infrared analysis proved that the functioning groups of bioactive terpene compounds were present. The dose dependent antifungal effect of Tea Tree Oil was demonstrated with inhibition zones that matched with the traditional antifungal agents.