Evaluation of Antibacterial and Antifungal Effects of Calcium Hydroxide Mixed with Two Different Essential Oils.

BACKGROUND

Calcium hydroxide is a routinely used material for root canal disinfection during root canal treatment. Natural products have great potential in terms of their antibacterial effects. This study aimed to establish an effective alternative intracanal medicament using and essential oils.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

and collected from Lefke, Cyprus, were separately subjected to hydrodistillation. The obtained essential oil compositions were analysed simultaneously by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The compositions were then divided into groups and mixed with calcium hydroxide at a 1:1 concentration; after that, the pastes were tested on () and which are the most common resistant pathogenic microorganisms in the root canal. The antibacterial activity of the pastes was measured using a disk diffusion assay.

RESULTS

The GC and GC-MS analyses revealed that and had major compositions of carvacrol (75.8%) and carvone (71.3%), respectively. Antimicrobial activity was found to be significantly higher when study groups with essential oil were applied to both and . The results also show that together with calcium hydroxide, demonstrated a significant antifungal effect on when incubated for 72 h.

CONCLUSIONS

was found to be an effective antimicrobial agent on whereas was found to be very effective on both and . These data demonstrate that these natural essential oils may be promising candidates for alternative intracanal medicament in future routine clinical applications.