Tea is rich in bioactive components with outstanding anti-bacterial effect， which received extensive attentions. This paper summarized numerous in vitro studies， the inhibitory effects of pharmacological components form tea on oral pathogens were systematically reviewed， molecular regulation mechanism of catechins and theaflavins on oral pathogens’ growth and adhesion， acidic and toxic secretion and related genes expression were discussed with special emphasis. Moreover， synergistic interaction between tea bioactive ingredients and other chemical components were mentioned， which provides reliable basis of further utilization of tea bioactive ingredients.