Ex vivo analysis of clindamycin's impact on dentin microhardness and surface chemistry

This study evaluated the effects of intracanal dressings on the physical and chemical microstructure of root canal dentin.

Standardized dentin cylinders (n = 120) were obtained from the single-rooted human teeth and randomly divided into two control and four experimental groups (n = 20): Calcium hydroxide (CH), triple antibiotic paste (TAP), double antibiotic paste (DAP), and clindamycin. After 1 and 4 weeks of contact with the medicaments, samples were subjected to the attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Vickers test to assess the chemical (phosphate/amide I) and physical properties of dentin, respectively.

Clindamycin significantly reduced the microhardness of dentin compared to CH after 1 week, and the control group after 1 and 4 weeks of application (P < 0.005). At both time points, clindamycin-treated samples demonstrated a demineralized chemical structure with significantly reduced p/a I than CH-treated samples. Clindamycin use resulted in no significant difference in microhardness and p/a I compared to treatment with TAP or DAP.

Within the limitations of this study, clindamycin demonstrated similar effects to TAP and DAP on physical and chemical structure of radicular dentin. The structural properties of clindamycin-treated specimens did not significantly change from the 1^st to the 4^th week of the experiment.