The antibacterial activity of three endodontic sealers against Enterococcus faecalis in vitro

Abstract

Abstract Conventional root canal therapy consists of chemo-mechanical treatment of the root canal to eliminate the microbial infection. The root canal is obturated with a root filling, which normally consists of a core and an endodontic sealer. The purpose of the sealer is to obturate the root canal, and should in addition have an antibacterial activity against bacteria that are left in the root canal after instrumentation and cleaning. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of three endodontic sealers with different chemical composition, AH Plus, RealSeal SE and TotalFill against Enterococcus faecalis in vitro. Methods: Agar diffusion test (ADT), Direct contact test (DCT) and Modified direct contact test (MDCT) were used to evaluate the antibacterial activity of the three endodontic sealers. Results: For the ADT a small clear zone of inhibition could be identified around AH Plus, which were absent for Real Seal SE and TotalFill. For the DCT, no bacterial growth was evident for all three sealers AH Plus, RealSeal SE and TotalFill compared to the control inoculum. This was in accordance with the MDCT, which showed that all three sealers eliminated all bacterial after 1 hour contact time with the sealers. Conclusions: Freshly prepared samples of AH Plus, Real Seal SE and TotalFill showed bactericidal activity against E. faecalis.