Antibiofilm activity of temu kunci (Boesenbergia rotunda), an Indonesian medicinal plant extract, against root canal pathogens

Introduction: A medicinal extract from an Indonesian plant, temu kunci (Boesenbergia rotunda) has an antibacterial effect. The objectives of this study is to determine the effects of temu kunci extract against Enterococcus faecalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Treponema denticola biofilms. Materials and Methods: This experimental laboratory study used the post-test control group design method. The E. faecalis, F. nucleatum, and T. denticola were each cultured in brain heart infusion broth, for 24 h, at 37°C, under anaerobic conditions. Each bacterium was distributed into 96-well microplate and treated with an ethanol extract of temu kunci in different concentrations and incubated for 5 min, 1 h, 6 h, and 24 h. The biofilm without treatment was used as the negative control, and sodium hypochlorite was used as the positive control. The biofilm mass was read using a microplate reader (490 nm). One-way analysis of variance and a post hoc test was used to analyze the results. Results: The temu kunci extract significantly reduced E. faecalis, F. nucleatum, and T. denticola in the monospecies and multispecies biofilms for all incubation periods (P < 0.05). Inhibitory efficiency of each concentration of the temu kunci extracts in preventing biofilm formation against E. faecalis, T. denticola, F. nucleatum monospecies, and multispecies. Moreover, the type of bacteria, the concentration, and the incubation time period were statistically significant compared to the control (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Temu kunci has antibiofilm activity against root canal pathogen biofilms, and it may be used as an alternative for root canal irrigation. However, further works are needed to determine the detailed mechanism by which temu kunci affects biofilm formation.