RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Antimicrobial Effect of Silver Ion Impregnation into Endodontic Sealer against Streptococcus mutans
J. Kreth1, D. Kim2, §, M. Nguyen2, §, G. Hsiao2, §, R. Mito2, M.K. Kang2, 3, N. Chugal2, W. Shi2, 3, 4, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2008Volume: 2
First Page: 18
Last Page: 23
Publisher ID: TODENTJ-2-18
DOI: 10.2174/1874210600802010018
Article History:
Received Date: 21/8/2007Acceptance Date: 10/1/2008
Electronic publication date: 21/2/2008
Collection year: 2008
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/), which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Pulpal and periradicular diseases are primarily caused by bacterial invasion of the root canal system as a result of caries progression. The presence of residual bacteria at the time of root canal completion (obturation) is associated with significantly higher rate of treatment failure. Re-infection of obturated root canals can be potentially prevented by enhancing the antibacterial activities of root canal obturation materials. We evaluated, in an in vitro model, the antimicrobial efficacy of silver ions added to a common endodontic sealer. For that purpose we performed growth inhibition studies and bacterial viability tests. We measured the zone of inhibition, optical density and performed confocal laser scanning microscopy. Our results show that the silver ions enhance the antimicrobial activity of the root canal sealer against Streptococcus mutans. This study approach may hold promise for studying other biologically based therapies and therefore increasing the success rate of routine orthograde root canal treatment.
