ABSTRACT
Aim: to investigate the antimicrobial effects of six different intracanal medicaments on Enterococcus faecalis. Material & Methods: An agar well diffusion test was used to determine the efficacy of the experimental medicaments in removing E. faecalis (ATCC 29212). Medicaments were divided into 7 groups; calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) with saline, Ca(OH)2 with anaesthetic solution, Ca(OH)2 with propylene glycol, commercially available premixed Ca(OH)2 paste, chlorhexidine gluconate gel, triple antibiotic paste (metronidazole, ciprofloxacin, doxicycline) with propylen glycol and talk powder with saline as negative control group. The diameters of the growth inhibition zones for each group were measured after 24 and 48 hours. Differences between groups were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests, and intragroup differences were analysed using Wilcoxon sign test. Results: Diameter of the inhibition zone observed for the triple antibiotic paste was significantly larger (p<0.01) and the diameter of the inhibition zone observed for the chlorhexidine gluconate gel was significantly smaller in comparison to the other tested medicaments (p<0.05). Conclusion: All of the tested medicaments were found to be effective on E. faecalis. However the results suggest that the triple antibiotic paste would be the preferred medicament against E. faecalis as it has the greatest antibacterial effect among the tested medicaments.