Background: Dental caries is a disease that is produced by the dissolution of local chemical surfaces of the teeth caused by product of microbial fermentation from dietary carbohydrates in the biofilm that attached to the teeth. Streptococcus mutans as the primary microbial pathogen in the aetiology of caries. They have a characteristic ability to produce voluminous amounts of sticky, extracellular polysaccharides in the presence of dietary carbohydrates, thus, help tenacious binding of the organism to enamel. Caries can be prevented by regular tooth brushing and flossing as mechanical plaque removal for cleaning the tooth. However, for many individuals, it difficult to eliminate Streptococcus mutans from the surfaces of the tooth by mechanical means alone over prolonged periods. Consequently, for effective caries control, these methods should be combined with the antimicrobial agent such as mouthwash whould have a direct inhibitory effect on the microorganism that can be bactericidal or bacteriostatic. However, they have several undesirable side effects reported from clinical studies. The use of medicinal plants is highly considered, because of side effects of chemical substances. Recently, Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves extracts as herbal mouthwashes are being tried and have been scientifically proven from several studies to be safe and effective to protection against dental caries because of its inhibitory effect or antimicrobial property against Streptococcus mutans. Purposes: The main aim of this literature review article is to explain the potencially antimicrobial herbal mouthwashes from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves extracts towards cariogenic bacterial Streptococcus mutans. Conclusions: Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni leaves extracts as herbal mouthwashes can be strongly recommended as a caries preventing agent.

Cognitive decline can be started at early adult. It may be prevented with administration of Centella asiatica (CeA). CeA already known has some medicinal values for the brain such as to increase dendritic growth, to improve cognitive function and memory performance in rats after chronic stress. Objective: This study is aimed to investigate effect CeA ethanol extract on spatial working memory of normal adult male rats. Eighteen normal adult male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: control/aquadest group and two groups treated with different doses (mg/kg) of CeA: 300 (CeA300) and 600 (CeA600). Ethanol extract of CeA were administrated orally for 28 consecutive days with weekly weight-adjusted dose. Memory performance was tested using Y-Maze before, on 14th days of treatment and after treatment. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test and continued with Mann-Whitney test. Result: Treatment groups showed a better spatial working memory performance than control group, but there were no significant result between CeA300 and CeA600 groups (p < 0.05). Ethanol extract of CeA prevents spatial working memory decline on normal male adult Wistar rats. The optimum dosage of CeA might be 300 mg/kg of body weight.

One effort to overcome the decline in memory function is through herbal medicine. Pegagan (Centella asiatica (L.) Urban) contain the active components of triterpenoid and flavonoids, has been known to be able to improve memory function. Synaptic plasticity is the basis of memory formation which is strongly influenced by synapse proteins such as PSD-95. Loss of PSD-95 protein can cause memory function decline. This study aims to determine the effect of 70% ethanol extract of pegagan toward PSD-95 protein expression on hippocampus of male Wistar rat. Eighteen male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, 6 rats/group: group (1) given ethanol extract of pegagan with dose 300 mg / kgBW / day (CA300), (2) given ethanol extract of pegagan with dose 600 mg / kgBW / day (CA600), and (3) control group (K), given daily aquadest. All three groups were treated for 28 consecutive days. At the end of the treatment period, rats were decapitated and the hippocampus was isolated from the brain. Analysis of protein was done by immunohistochemical method. Statistical analysis was performed by One Way ANOVA parametric test followed by Post-Hoc Bonferroni. The results showed that there was no significant difference between group K and group CA300 (P = 0.123), whereas there were significant differences between CA600 group and K group and CA300 group (P = 0.000). From this research, it can be concluded that 70% ethanol extract of pegagan with dose 600mg / kgBW / day can increase expression of PSD-95 protein on hippocampus of male Wistar rat.