Aim: This study was conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of propolis extract with different dilutions when applied as mouth wash in vivo against a known antiseptic agent (0.2%Chlorhexidine) . Material and Methods: Ninety children were selected for this study. All children were examined clinically for dental caries and used to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of studied materials. The childern were divided equally into two groups (fourty five in every group). In the first group childern were instructed to rinse with 3 ml of propolis extract for specific time and divided into three sub groubs while in the other group childern were instructed to rinse with 3 ml of Chlorhexidine. Result: The results of this study revealed that the use of propolis mouth washby childern achieved mean of reduction of total bacterial count. The effect of 0.2% Chlorhexidine was higher than the effect of propolis in total bacterial count reduction .
Conclusion: This study concluded that Propolis is an antimicrobial agent as it significantly reduced the total bacterial count in the saliva of childern when compared by apotent antiseptic like 0.2% chlorhexidine.