The Effectiveness of Mouthwash on the Killing of Bacteria

The purpose of our experimentation was to determine if certain mouthwashes were effective in the killing of bacteria that are found in the mouth. We ran our trials using a sample of bacteria found in our mouths. After cultivating a single type of bacteria, we streaked 20 petri dishes filled with a nutrient-based agar with the bacteria sample. After allowing the bacteria to grow for 48 hours, we measured the zone of inhibition of the bacterial growth. Because the zones of inhibition for many of the samples were so small, we were left with data that was difficult to analyze. The data from each mouthwash sample was greatly right-skewed and appeared to come from the same population. Therefore, we concluded that the mouthwash was not effective in killing or preventing the growth of the type of bacteria that we had experimented with.

Research Done By:

Meagan Evanoff
Center Line

Sarah Mohler
Center Line

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