Toothpaste formulation from Miswak powder extract

Miswak, is stem of Salvadora persica, which is particulary uesd by moslems for tooth brushing. Cosidering the useful properties of Miswak and easy use of toothpastes, this research is airned at toothpaste formulation from Miswak extract. Toothpaste bases was formulated by use of different ingrediants. Some of the formulations were selected for accelerated stability test analysis. By these studies, the best formulation was choosed. This formulation contained calcium carbonate as abrasive, propylen glycol and glycerin as humectant and NaCMC as binder. In the next step, methanolic extract of Miswak was prepared by soxelet method, then Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of this extract was determined against Streptoccocus sanguis which is one of the most important agents causing dental caries. The MIC was 320 µg/ml, so 0.3% (10 fold of MIC) of extract was used in toothpaste. For evalution of antimicrobial effect, the medical toothpaste were compared against toothpaste base, tetracycline and ampicilin disc in Disc Diffusion method. Results showed that there was significant differences between medical toothpaste and toothpaste base, and that medical toothpaste was as effective as ampicilin but less effective than tetracycline. Keywords: Miswak, Toothpaste, Disc diffusion, MI