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Background/Purpose: Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease due to microbial plaque that causes bone loss and tooth mobility. Its prevention and treatment include microbial plaque control, which is presently attained by both mechanical and chemical methods. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial effect of the hydroalcoholic extract of Elettaria cardamomum on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) which is one of the most important bacterium of periodontitis. Materials and Methods: The hydroalcoholic extract of E. cardamomum was obtained by the maceration method in the Traditional Medicine of Tehran University Medical Sciences Department. The Aa (Jp2nov99) bacterial strain was cultured. The inhibition zone diameter of Aa was measured by agar-well diffusion methods for concentrations of 25% and 50% of E. cardamomum. The mean group’s inhibition zone diameter was analyzed using the SPSS software. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values of this extract were determined by the broth microdilution method. Chlorhexidine 0.2% was used as a control and the results were compared. Results: The inhibition zone diameter of this extract was measured at different concentrations. The highest and the lowest diameters of 20.5 mm and 20.0 mm were associated with 50% and 25% concentrations, respectively. The MIC and MBC values for this bacterium were at 0.0039 mg/ml and 0.0039 mg/ml as compared with 0.00065 mg/ml and 0.00098 mg/ml for 0.2% of chlorhexidine. Conclusion: The hydroalcoholic extract of E. cardamomum has an antibacterial effect on the Aa bacterium and may be used in mouthwash as an alternative to chlorhexidine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]