In vitro activity of taurolidine, chlorophenol-camphor-menthol and chlorhexidine against oral pathogenic microorganisms.

The antimicrobial activity of taurolidine (Taurolin, CAS 19388-87-5), a synthetic broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent and anti-toxin, and two conventional antiseptics, chlorophenol-camphor-menthol (CCM) and chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) were compared using the serial dilution test on 10 potential oral pathogenic bacterial species. The minimum inhibitory and minimum bactericidal concentrations were lowest for CHX (MIC 0.03-0.12 mg/ml), followed by taurolidine (MIC 0.12-0.5 mg/ml) and CCM (MIC 0.5-2.0 mg/ml). However, if both bacterial efficacy and cytotoxicity are considered, only taurolidine achieves extensive bactericidal activity with tissue tolerability.