Bacteriophage Endolysins Mouth Wash Effect for Treatment of Dental Caries Caused by Streptococcus mutans: An In Vivo Study

The current work aimed to evaluate the in vivo effectiveness of bacteriophage endolysins as oral antibiotic (mouth wash) for treatment of dental caries caused by S. mutans in rats by induction of S. mutans infection and treatment with endolysins, then culture to demonstrate the effectiveness of endolysins on the bacterial growth, and to determine the desired antibacterial concentration of bacteriophage endolysins for treatment of dental caries caused by S. mutans with the desired effects. From patients with dental caries that were attainted to Al-Imamain Al-Kadhimain (Peace Being Upon Them) Medical City Hospital, AL-Ameen Health Center and different individuals from various places having caries from December 2021 to May 2022, twenty-five S. mutans isolates were collected. These isolates were determined by morphology, Gram staining, growing them on their selective media (MS-SBT agar), biochemical tests and VITEK2 compact system. Eight of these S. mutans isolates were used for the in vivo study. The results showed that the endolysin enzyme that was extracted from the corresponding bacteriophage which was specific for the corresponding S. mutans isolate was effective as an antibacterial agent for the treatment of dental caries as mouth wash in this in vivo study, giving minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) ranging between 16.78–18.87 and 20.97–23.6 μg/mL respectively. The findings showed that endolysin is effective as antibacterial agent against S. mutans as mouth wash and by injection between teeth and gum.