Evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy of two commercially available probiotics against Enterococcus faecalis: An in...

The antimicrobial activity of probiotics determined by colony-forming units when used against Enterococcus faecalis thereby can be used as an alternative intracanal medicament in root canal therapy.

To evaluate the two commercially available probiotics antibacterial effectiveness against E. faecalis in root canal treatment.

In vitro study.

Sixty-two extracted mandibular premolars were decoronated and instrumented up to ProTaper Gold F2 (Dentsply, USA) using 2.5% sodium hypochlorite irrigation followed by 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Samples were autoclaved and inoculated with the test organism E. faecalis (American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) 29212) for 7 days, kept in a sealed container at 37°C. Sixty samples were divided into four groups (n = 15): Group 1 - Cyraflora (Saccharomyces boulardii), Group 2 - Econorm (Bacillus species), Group 3 - 2% chlorhexidine gel, and Group 4 - calcium hydroxide. Then, the respective intracanal medicaments were placed inside the root canal space and sealed with glass ionomer cement (GIC). After 7 days, coronal GIC was removed, irrigated, dried, and dentinal scrappings were taken by using H files, and bacterial counts were evaluated.

One-way analysis of variance was used to examine the data, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for intergroup comparisons.

The findings demonstrated the efficacy of probiotics S. boulardii and Bacillus species against E. faecalis, with a decrease in colony-forming units following probiotic use.

As an alternate intracanal medication, probiotics can be utilized to effectively combat E. faecalis.