Dental caries is a microbiological infection of the tooth which results in localized dissolution and destruction of the calcified tissue and it is one of the most common chronic infectious diseases in humans throughout the world. The leaves of Piper betel (locally known as Paan) have long been in use in the Indian local system of medicine for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The purpose of the study was to determine the comparative activity of P. betel leaf extracts and standard antibiotics against the bacteria isolated from oral region (teeth).The teeth swabs were collected from patients suffering from dental caries. The bacteria present in the samples were isolated and identified by morphological and biochemical characteristics. Extracts preparation was carried out in different solvents (ethanol, methanol and aqueous). The isolated bacteria were subjected to antibacterial sensitivity test by agar well diffusion method against different concentrations of ethanol, methanol and aqueous extract. Standard antibiotics (tetracycline, streptomycin, ampicillin, pen-G, etc.) are used as positive control. All the extracts showed inhibitory effect against the tested bacteria. In conclusion it can be said betel leaves have potent antimicrobial effect on oral bacteria that lead to infection in mouth or normally present in mouth.
