Efficacy of Natural Coconut Water, Pre-packaged Coconut Water, and Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution as Storage Media in Maintaining Periodontal Ligament Cell Viability: An In-vitro Study

Abstract

Introduction: Avulsion of teeth is one of the most complex forms of dental injury, and the selection of an appropriate storage medium greatly influences the preservation of Periodontal Ligament (PDL) cell viability, which is crucial for the successful re-implantation of avulsed teeth. Therefore, identifying effective storage options such as natural coconut water and prepackaged coconut water holds significant promise in improving outcomes for this challenging dental injury. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of natural coconut water, prepackaged coconut water, and Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) as storage media in maintaining PDL cell viability. Materials and Methods: A total of 32 non-carious freshly extracted human premolars were randomly divided into four study groups (n=8) and stored in the following storage media respectively: Group I-Natural coconut water group, Group IIPre-packaged coconut water group, Group III-Bench dry group, and Group IV-HBSS groups for 30 minutes. The PDL cells were collected and incubated in phosphate buffer saline for 30 minutes and then centrifuged at 800 rpm for five minutes. Following this, the cells were stained with trypan blue to observe their viability. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Tukey’s post-hoc test was used for analysing the data. Results: The mean percentage of viable cells in natural coconut water (80.6250) was higher than in HBSS (79.8750), prepackaged coconut water (79.2500), and the bench dry group (6.1250). Meanwhile, the mean percentage of non-viable cells was highest in the bench dry group (93.8750), followed by the pre-packaged coconut water (20.7500), HBSS (20.1250), and natural coconut water (19.3750). Conclusion: Natural coconut water and pre-packaged coconut water are equally effective in maintaining the viability of PDL cells. Therefore, pre-packaged coconut water can be used as a substitute for natural coconut water for tooth storage, depending upon availability.