Bactericidal efficacy of metronidazole against bacteria of human carious dentin in vivo.

The bactericidal efficacy of metronidazole (MN) against bacteria of carious dentin was estimated by measuring bacterial recovery with or without application of MN to dentinal lesions in vivo. More than 10(3) colony-forming units of bacteria per milligram of sample were recovered from the samples of carious dentin. However, none were recovered from the samples of dentinal lesions which had been covered by alpha-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) cement containing MN in situ for 1 day, 1 month, 1 year and/or 2 years in vivo. Placebo experiments in which carious dentin was covered by TCP cement without MN showed that TCP itself was not bactericidal. Bactericidal efficacy of MN in situ is clearly demonstrated, indicating that MN is a valuable material in caries treatment to disinfect carious dentin.