A statistical analysis of anaerobic versus aerobic culturing in endodontic therapy.

Asymptomatic teeth were cultured at four specific stages of endodontic therapy, yielding 148 paired samples. Half of the samples were incubated anaerobically with the use of a new medium, and half were incubated aerobically with the use of a commonly employed endodontic medium. The former proved to be significantly more sensitive in supporting microbial growth from root canals. The results indicate that an aerobic culturing technique alone is not sufficient to reflect the microbiologic status of the canal system.