Comparative evaluation of various herbal agents for the disinfection of guttapercha cones – An in vitro study

Abstract

In clinical practice, the dentist often encounters with the problem of post obturation infection, one possible reason for this could be the introduction of contaminated G.P into the root canal space. Herbal agents are gaining popularity these days as they are natural alternatives and are economical. So herbal agents like PanchaTulasi, Ozonated olive oil and Lemon grass oil are selected as experimental chair side disinfectants as GP cannot be sterilized owing to its inherent properties. The estimated sample size was 45 and they are grouped and artificially contaminated with E faecalis and S aureus and treated with respective disinfectants followed by incubation and checked for their efficacy using a digital microbiological colony counter. Lemon grass oil was found to be the most effective in both the groups followed by Panchatulasi in S aureus group and ozonated olive oil in E faecalis group.