LAUSR

Abstract Oral infections are associated with the appearance of systemic diseases. Among the natural products, commercially used in dental formulations is thymol (TM). However, this compound presents low stability. In order to overcome these limitations, the membranes were prepared using the solvent evaporation method and TM/β-cyclodextrin using the liofilization technique. The results showed that the presence of inclusion complex in the membranes causes considerable modifications in the physical-chemical, morphological, and mucoadhesive properties. In addition, the membranes presented antimicrobial activity. These data show that mucoadhesive membranes containing IC may be promising systems for TM delivery in the treatment of oral infections. Graphical Abstract ABBREVIATIONS β-CD: β-cyclodextrin, TM: Thymol, IC: Inclusion complex, XRD: X-ray diffraction, ATR-FTIR: Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared, SEM: Scanning electron microscopy, DSC: Differential Scanning Calorimetry, TG: Thermogravimetry, Propylene glycol (PPG).