Antimicrobial effectiveness of root canal sealers against Enterococcus faecalis.

We evaluated four root canal sealers to determine their antimicrobial effectiveness against E. faecalis. The direct contact test was used to measure the effectiveness of the study materials and close contact between bacteria on the kinetics of bacterial growth. The agar diffusion test (ADT) was also performed for comparison. Using one-way ANOVA and the F-test, significant differences between the sealers were confirmed. Whereas BioRoot endodontic sealer had an antimicrobial effect statistically similar to the zinc oxide-eugenol control (p=.99), EndoSequence sealer and AH Plus sealer both had a significantly lower antimicrobial effect than the control (p=.0000266 and p=.0000068, respectively).

Antimicrobial activity and inhibition of biofilm formation in vitro and on human dentine by silver nanoparticles/carboxymethyl-cellulose composites.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the antimicrobial activity of a silver nanoparticles/carboxymethyl-cellulose (AgNPs/CMC) composite on in vitro and dentine disc heterogeneous biofilms. DESIGN: AgNPs/CMC composite effect on normal human gingival fibroblast cells (HGF) viability was determined by the MTT reduction assay. In addition, we evaluated the antimicrobial effect of AgNPs/CMC composite on Candida albicans, Enterococcus faecalis, and Fusobacterium nucleatum growth in vitro and heterogeneous biofilms, as well as dentine disc biofilms. RESULTS: Quasi-spherical AgNPs/CMC composites, with a mean 22.3 nm particle-size were synthesized. They were not toxic to HGF cells at concentrations tested that were antimicrobial, however they caused significant cytotoxicity (89 %, p <  0.05) at concentrations > 15 µg/mL. In vitro, they inhibited up to 67 %, 66 %, and 96 % C. albicans, E. faecalis, and F. nucleatum growth at concentrations ranging from 1.2 µg/mL to 9.6 µg/mL, as compared with untreated control. We also demonstrated significant (p <  0.05) 58 % biofilm reduction by 4.8 µg/mL AgNPs/CMC composite on human dentine discs. CONCLUSION: AgNPs/CMC composite showed anti biofilm activity on monocultures, heterogenous cultures, and dentine discs, resulting a potentially effective alternative to prevent and eliminate infections after endodontic treatment.

In Vivo Evaluation of 3 Electronic Apex Locators: Root ZX Mini, Apex ID, and Propex Pixi.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this in vivo study was to compare the accuracy of 3 electronic apex locators (EALs) (Root ZX mini [J Morita Corp, Tokyo, Japan], Apex ID [SybronEndo, Glendora, CA], and Propex Pixi [Dentsply Maillefer, Ballaigues, Switzerland]) to determine the working length. METHODS: Thirty single-rooted human teeth that were scheduled for extraction were selected for the study. Electronic measurements were performed with the 3 EALs. After the teeth had been extracted, a #10 K-file was used to determine the actual working length, which was established at 0.5 mm short of the major foramen. The data were statistically analyzed with analysis of variance (α = 0.05). RESULTS: No significant differences were found among the experimental groups (P > .05). The mean distance from the actual working length to the file tip was 0.163 ± 0.032 mm when Root ZX mini was used, 0.343 ± 0.032 mm for Propex Pixi , and 0.012 ± 0.008 mm for Apex ID. CONCLUSIONS: Under the in vivo conditions of this study, no statistically significant differences were observed among the 3 EALs.