The purpose of this study was to determine the in vitro antimicrobial ability against Entrococcus (E.) faecalis of triple antibiotic paste and its components compared with calcium hydroxide mixtures. An agar well diffusion assay and MIC method were used to determine the efficacy of the experimental medicaments in removing E. faecalis. Medicaments were divided into 9 groups; triple antibiotic powder with saline or chlorhexidine, metronidazole, ciprofloxacin, minocycline antibiotics were also separately tested (with normal saline), and Ca(OH)2 (plus normal saline or 2% chlorhexidine). These medicaments were evaluated at four concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 200 μgram per mL in an agar well diffusion test. The diameters of the growth inhibition zones for each group were recorded and compared. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of tested medicaments that are required to kill E. faecalis were also determined. The differences between groups were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. The largest inhibition zones were observed for the triple antibiotic mixture/saline, triple antibiotic mixture/2% chlorhexidine and minocycline/saline, and the smallest for Ca(OH)(2)/saline, Ca(OH)(2)/2% chlorhexidine. Concentration increases produced greater antibacterial effects in all groups. The MIC determination method showed similar results. The results suggest that the triple antibiotic paste with either 2% chlorhexidine or normal saline would be the preferred medicament against E. faecalis and, among its three components, minocycline has the greatest antibacterial effect.

Introduction: In clinical dental application, using silicate-based cements is extremely popular. These materials come into direct contact with blood during or after placement and may cause tooth discoloration. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the coronal tooth discoloration induced by white mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and biodentine in the presence of blood. Materials and Methods: Seventy specimens were chemomechanically prepared and divided into four experimental and two control groups. In the experimental groups, the pulp chambers were filled with white MTA angelus or biodentine. Blood or saline saturated cotton pellets were placed within the canals. Saline or blood alone was used in the control groups. Color was assessed with a spectrophotometer at baseline, 1 week, and 1 and 3 months, and color change values were calculated. Tukey's honestly significant difference and Sidak tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: The color change was significantly less with biodentine/saline than MTA/saline and MTA/blood (P < 0.05). Regardless of the material type and blood presence, discoloration increased after 3 months (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Discoloration induced by biodentine/saline may not be clinically noticeable and it was less than MTA-containing groups. Irrespective of blood presence or absence, MTA caused perceptible color change.

The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the ability of triple antibiotic paste (TAP) to calcium hydroxide (CH) in disinfecting dentinal tubules. Sixty root blocks were obtained from extracted single-rooted human teeth. The root canals were enlarged with Gates-Glidden drills up to size 3 and were contaminated with Enterococcus. faecalis (E. faecalis), and then left for 21 days. The contaminated blocks were treated with saline (as negative control), CH or TAP. Dentin debris was obtained at the end of first and 7th days, using Gates-Glidden drills sizes 4 and 5 from two different depths of 100 and 200 µm. The vital bacterial load was assessed by counting the number of colony forming units (CFUs). The data was analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis H and Dunn Post-Hoc tests. The Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was used to check for differences in bacterial growth at both depths (P<0.05). In comparison with CH, the TAP significantly decreased the number of CFUs in both depths and time intervals (P<0.001), while the CH group showed a moderate antibacterial effect. TAP is more effective in disinfecting the canal against E. faecalis compared to CH.

Introduction. This in vitro study investigated the dislodgement resistance of EndoSeal MTA, a new pozzolan-containing calcium silicate-based material, in comparison with ProRoot MTA and Biodentine in the presence and absence of contamination with blood. Methods. Standard furcal perforations were created in 180 human mandibular first molars. The teeth were randomly allocated to 12 groups of 15 each. ProRoot MTA, Biodentine, and EndoSeal MTA were used to repair the perforations. In half of the samples, the walls of the perforated areas were contaminated with blood, whereas saline was injected into the other half. A push-out test was performed using a universal testing machine after 24 hours or 7 days. To evaluate failure patterns, the samples were split into half and were examined under a stereomicroscope at a 20x magnification. Data were analyzed using three-way analysis of variance, Tukey test, and Student’s t-test. Results. At both time intervals and in the presence and absence of contamination with blood, ProRoot MTA and Biodentine had significantly higher retention values than EndoSeal MTA (p<0.001). Contamination with blood had no effect on EndoSeal MTA; however, it negatively affected the dislodgement resistance of Biodentine at 24 hours and ProRoot MTA at both time intervals (p<0.05). Time significantly affected only the bond strength of the uncontaminated groups (p>0.001). The most common type of failure was mixed for ProRoot MTA and Biodentine, whereas it was cohesive for EndoSeal MTA. Conclusions. ProRoot MTA and Biodentine showed higher values of bond strength than EndoSeal MTA and may thus be better options for the repair of root perforations.