Antibacterial efficacy of triple antibiotic medication with macrogol (3Mix-MP), traditional triple antibiotic paste, calcium hydroxide and ethanol extract of propolis: an intratubular dentine ex vivo confocal laser scanning microscopy study.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION\nThis study aimed to assess the effectiveness of antibacterial activity of medications used in regenerative endodontic treatment.\n\n\nMETHODS\nSixty-seven dentin cylinders of single-rooted teeth were contaminated with a culture of E. faecalis (ATCC 29212) for 5 days. Samples were divided into one control group and the following experimental groups according to the medication applied: traditional triple antibiotic paste (TAP), clindamycin-modified TAP (mTAP), triple antibiotic medication with macrogol (3Mix-MP), clindamycin-modified 3Mix-MP (m3Mix-MP), calcium hydroxide (CH), and ethanol extract of propolis (EEP). After 14 days, the medications were removed and the samples were submitted to Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy analysis to quantify the percentage of viable bacteria. The distribution of data was confirmed by Shapiro-Wilk test. Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn s test were used for intergroup comparisons and Wilcoxon test was used for comparison between superficial and deep antibacterial efficacy for the same medication. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05.\n\n\nRESULTS\n3Mix-MP and m3Mix-MP presented significantly higher antibacterial efficacy compared to the other tested medications (P < 0.05) except for the mTAP. The mTAP was more effective than TAP (P < 0.05). The antibacterial efficacy of EEP and CH did not differ significantly from TAP and mTAP (P > 0.05). All medications demonstrated effective antibacterial action compared to the control group (P < 0.05).\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\n3Mix-MP and m3Mix-MP, which present extremely high concentration of antibiotics (1500 mg/mL), were not more effective than mTAP at the concentration recommended by the American Association of Endodontists (5 mg/mL). Moreover, CH and EEP were as effective as TAP and mTAP.