The Efficacy of Aloe vera Against Enterococcus faecalis as an Intracanal Medicament: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Calcium hydroxide (CaOH) is commonly used as an intracanal medicament due to its antimicrobial properties; its antibacterial property depends on the release of hydroxyl ions. By analyzing experimental in vitro studies related to the research question, many studies carried out bacterial inoculation on extracted human teeth or laboratory Petri dishes. This review article seeks to assess the antimicrobial efficacy of Aloe vera (AV) against  in comparison to CaOH as an intracanal medicament. After being retrieved from databases such as PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and EBSCOhost, publications from 2013 to 2024 were screened against our inclusion criteria. As a result, seven papers were included in the systematic review and four in the meta-analysis. Using a meta-analysis (Stata software version 16.0, StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX) to compare colony-forming units (CFUs) formed by CaOH and AV, forest plots were created to record the specimen size, mean, and standard deviation value of the outcome in CFU, at 95% confidence intervals. AV exhibits bactericidal qualities that are equal to or comparable to those of CaOH. AV displayed a nonsignificantly reduced CFU count than CaOH in a meta-analysis (p > 0.05). In summary, AV exhibits antibacterial/antimicrobial capabilities against that are equal to or comparable to CaOH.