My name is Tarah and I have a few questions regarding a science fair project involving dentistry. For my project, I am testing to see which mouthwash is the most effective on killing oral bacteria. I am testing Listerine, Scope, and Hydrogen Peroxide. My hypothesis is that Listerine will be the most effective because it contains an Antiseptic.
Do you agree with my hypothesis? Why or why not?
What ingredients are needed to potentially kill bacteria?
To test my hypothesis, I am obtaining 10 samples from the back of a person’s tongue and growing them on petri dishes. Then, after waiting for about 24 hours, I will add 1ml each of Scope mouthwash using a dropper into 3 petri dishes with bacteria. I will do the same using Listerine and Hydrogen Peroxide. I will compare each dish with the one that has not received any mouthwash, and obtain my results.
Should I have the person brush their teeth before I obtain the sample, rinse with water, or just plainly obtain the sample?
Do you have any suggestions on improving my project?
Thanks for your time and consideration.