Abstract
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the capacity of some root canal irrigants to induce genetic damage and/or cellular death in vitro. Murine fibroblast cells were exposed to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), MTAD™ and citric acid in increasing concentrations for 3 h at 37ºC. The negative control group was treated with vehicle control (phosphate buffer solution - PBS) for 3 h at 37°C, and the positive control group was treated with methylmetanesulfonate, 1 μM. for 3 h at 37°C. Cytotoxicity was assessed by the trypan blue test and genotoxicity was evaluated by the single cell gel (comet) assay. The results showed that exposure to 2.5% and 5% NaOCl and 8.5% citric acid resulted in a significant cytotoxic effect. NaOCl, EDTA and citric acid did not produce genotoxic effects with respect to the comet assay data for all evaluated concentrations. Although MTAD was not a cytotoxic agent, it showed significant genotoxic effects at all tested concentrations (ANOVA and Tukey's test; p<0.05). NaOCl, EDTA and citric acid were found to be cytotoxic in a dose-dependent manner, but they were not genotoxic. MTAD did not cause cell death, but presented genotoxic effects.
Highlights
Successful endodontic therapy depends on a thorough chemomechanical preparation of the root canal system as well as a three-dimensional filling that provides complete seal of the spaces previously occupied by the canal contents
MTADTM is a root canal irrigant that is a mixture of tetracycline isomer, citric acid and a detergent developed by Torabinejad et al [8]
Exposure of murine fibroblast cells to NaOCl resulted in a significant cytotoxic effect for all concentrations, except for the lowest one (1.25%) used in this study, when compared with the negative control
Summary
Successful endodontic therapy depends on a thorough chemomechanical preparation of the root canal system as well as a three-dimensional filling that provides complete seal of the spaces previously occupied by the canal contents. The smear layer has been shown to hinder the penetration of intracanal disinfectants [3] into dentinal tubules and potentially compromise the seal of the root canal filling [4]. Several products and techniques capable of dissolving inorganic particles of the smear layer have been investigated and the ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is widely used as the best option so far [5]. Another efficient irrigant used for the same purpose is citric acid at different concentrations [6]. Comparatively little literature is available on the genotoxicity and/or cytotoxicity of these compounds in mammalian cells. It has been postulated that exposure of living tissues to cytotoxic
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