The antimicrobial activity of essentials oils of thyme, oregano, copaiba, tea tree, and frankincense against Enterococcus faecallis / Análise da atividade antimicrobiana dos óleos essenciais de tomilho, orégano, copaíba, melaleuca, e olíbano contra Enterococcus faecallis

Oral diseases are among the problems that most affect the quality of life of people in the world. Traditional methods for drug treatment of these diseases are almost always expensive and, in addition, they cause side effects and can promote an increase in bacterial resistance. Thus, the demand for plant-derived products, such as herbal, floral and essential oils, has been growing every day, favoring the development of new therapeutic products that can replace or complement traditional therapeutic treatment. Among the natural products that have been gaining space, essential oils (EOs) stand out. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the role of thyme, oregano, copaiba, tea tree and frankincense EOs in inhibiting the growth of Enterococcus faecalis bacteria. The oil diffusion technique in agar was performed to evaluate the efficiency of the EOs, at different concentrations: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. The EOs that showed the greatest inhibition halo were, in decreasing order: Thyme Oil (5.0 mm), Tea tree Oil (4.70 mm) and Oregano Oil (3.75mm) in the concentration of 100%, with results similar to 0.12% chlorhexidine (positive control), whose inhibition halo was 3 mm. Copaiba and Frankincense oils were not efficient to inhibit bacterial growth at concentrations of 25, 50 and 75%. The results obtained in this research demonstrated that thyme, tea tree and oregano oils inhibited the growth of Enterococcus faecalis bacteria.