In vitro evaluation of the antibacterial effect of various root canal sealers on selected anaerobic bacteria*

Aim of the study. To determine and compare
the antibacterial activity of various root canal
sealers against selected strains of anaerobic
bacteria: Fusobacterium nucleatum ATCC
25586, Porphyromonas gingivalis ATCC 33277,
Peptostreptococcus anaerobius ATCC 27337. Material
and Methods. The materials tested in this study included
AH Plus Jet (AH), Apexit Plus (AP), Endomethasone
N (EN), Epiphany (EP), GuttaFlow (GF), Roeko Seal
Automix (RSA), Sealapex (SP) and Tubliseal (TS). The
antibacterial effect of the freshly mixed sealers on the
above mentioned strains of bacteria was evaluated
with the use of the agar diffusion test. After inoculation
with the bacteria and applying the materials, the agar
plates were incubated at 37°C for one week in an
atmosphere of 5-10% CO2. The results were obtained by measuring the diameter of the growth inhibition
zone after 48 h, 72 h, one week (F. nucleatum) or 72
h, 120 h and one week (P. gingivalis, P. anaerobius),
and analyzed statistically using one-way analysis of
variance (ANOVA) followed by post-hoc Tukey’s test.
Results. AH, EN, EP, SP and TS significantly inhibited
all the bacterial strains over the experimental period.
AP showed a slight suppressive effect on P. gingivalis
only. No antimicrobial activity was detected for GF
and RSA. Conclusions. The antimicrobial effect of
root canal sealers varied considerably depending on
the type of material and the tested bacterial species.
Most of the sealers demonstrated antibacterial action
on the investigated bacteria.