Comparison of the antibacterial effect of curcumin, Moringa oleifera and %2.5 sodium hypochlorite as root canal rinses on Enterococcus faecalis in laboratory conditions

Abstract

Introduction: The main goal of root canal treatment is to remove microorganisms and their products from the root canal system before filling the canals. Therefore, the need to use antimicrobial agents along with the mechanical preparation of the canal to disinfect the root canal system as much as possible seems logical. Enterococcus faecalis is a resistant microorganism that plays an important role in the etiology of persistent and resistant lesions around the root apex. Today, herbal and natural products have replaced industrial drugs due to their strong antibacterial properties, better tissue compatibility, and strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and there is a great desire to use them. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the antibacterial properties of curcumin, Moringa oleifera and %2.5 sodium hypochlorite as internal canal rinses to remove Enterococcus faecalis bacteria by bacterial counting method. Materials and methods: In this laboratory study, 49 extracted human single-rooted teeth were used, which did not have any anomalies. The crown of the teeth was cut and the working length was determined. The preparation steps of the canals were done by manual and rotary protaper files. The teeth were sterile and randomly divided into three groups of 15 and two groups of 2 positive and negative controls. Except for the negative control group, the rest of the teeth were exposed to Enterococcus faecalis bacteria suspension for 48 hours to form a bacterial biofilm. Then the canals of all three groups of fifteen were washed with ethanolic extract of curcumin, ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera and %2.5 sodium hypochlorite respectively. The positive and negative control groups were washed only with normal saline. Sampling was done using a sterile paper cone. Then the samples were cultured on agar plates and placed in an incubator for 24 hours. Finally, bacteria were counted manually and the number of bacteria in each sample was determined. In the end, the exact Kruskal-Wallis test (comparison of three environments) was used to analyze the data to compare the number of environments in terms of colony growth of Enterococcus faecalis and also to compare the number of colonies among the environments. The significance level in all tests was considered less than %5. Results: Enterococcus faecalis growth was not observed in any of the studied groups. The average number of bacterial colonies for the negative control group was zero, but for the positive control group, 1x105 CFU/ml was obtained. All three groups were significantly different from the positive control group (p=0.001), but no significant difference was observed between the three studied groups together (p=0.999). Conclusion: Considering the limitations of the present study, all studied groups were able to inhibit the absolute growth and %100 of Enterococcus faecalis biofilm. Therefore, considering the obtained results and taking into account the other numerous properties mentioned for the studied plant materials, these materials can be considered as good alternatives to sodium hypochlorite as a wash inside the canal.