Antimicrobial activity of root canal irrigants in primary teeth – Comment

Abstract

I have read the article Comparative evaluation of antimicrobial activity of miswak, propolis, sodium hypochlorite and saline as root canal irrigants by microbial culturing and quantification in chronically exposed primary teeth” of Dr. Poonam Shingare and Dr. Vishwas Chaugule1 and I find it very interesting for several reasons, both objective and subjective. This article got my attention as I have participated in a study that assessed the effectiveness of antimicrobial substances from mouth rinses (In vitro evaluation of effectiveness in reducing bacterial plaque of antimicrobial substances in patients treated with orthodontic appliances).2 I like the idea of using natural substances to obtain sterility of the root canal (eliminating the adverse effects of sodium hypochlorite) and I appreciate the fact that sample collection has been done according to a standard operation procedure. As the idea of the article is very interesting, I suggest to continue the study by increasing the number of patients, for better accuracy, and by identifying the bacterial species involved (both the aerobic and the anaerobic species)3,4 in order to highlight the role of different microorganisms in endodontic pathology. A comparison between the effect of these substances on aerobic bacteria and anaerobic bacteria would also be interesting. Another idea would be to test the in vitro effect of miswak and propolis on bacterial species commonly involved in dental pathology (to eliminate the variables inherent in the endodontic procedure).