Abstract Background Infections caused by bioflm‑forming bacteria have signifcantly linked to dental plaque and caries. The aim of this study is to assess efcacy of some natural compounds in inhibition and eradication of bioflm formed by bacterial isolates from dental infections. Results Bacterial isolates were recovered from dental plaque/caries and identifed using standard microbiological tests and 16S rDNA sequencing. The isolated bacterial strains include Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epider- midis, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli. The antibiotic susceptibility was determined by disk difusion method and revealed that the majority of isolates showed high antibiotic resistance, and 61% of iso‑ lates were found to be multidrug resistant. The bioflm formation capacity of isolates was investigated using microtiter plate assay. Among the 77 bacterial isolates, seventeen showed moderate bioflm formation capacity, twenty‑two showed near‑moderate, thirty‑four had weak bioflm‑forming capacity, and four were non‑bioflm producers. The anti‑ bioflm activity of tested compounds (rose and jasmine oils, propolis, vanillin, and vinegar) was evaluated against iso‑ lates with highest bioflm‑forming capacity. The in vitro antibioflm ability of tested substances were investigated alone or in combination with each other to evaluate their ability to prevent bioflm formation or destroy preformed single‑/multispecies bioflms. Finally, antibioflm ability of tested combination was evaluated ex vivo on natural teeth. Our results showed that vanillin in combination with rose or jasmine oils showed promising bioflm inhibition and bioflm eradication activities in both the in vitro and ex vivo models. Conclusions Dental plaque and caries can be successfully prevented using combination of vanillin with rose or jas‑ mine oils, and these compounds can be incorporated in new anticaries dental formulations.