Comparison Of Antimicrobial Efficacy Of Sodium Hypochlorite & Chlorhexidine At Different Concentrations - An Invitro Study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of sodium hypochlorite (1% and 3%) and chlorhexidine (1% and 2%) with or without the addition of organic load (sterile plasma 0.5%) against some bacterial samples Staphylococcus aureus(ATCC 25923), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212) using agar diffusion method. Muller Hinton agar plates were seeded with bacterial strains. Paper disks (7-mm diameter) saturated with 10µl of test solution for 1min were placed on the plates. In each Petri dish, one paper disk soaked with sterile saline solution was placed as negative control. Agar plates inoculated with bacterial strains were incubated for 24 hrs at 37S04;C. Diameters of the zones of bacterial inhibition were measured with a transparent ruler and recorded for each strain and solution. In half the specimens, 0.5% sterile plasma was added to simulate organic tissue present in the root canal. Bacterial growth was evaluated for each microorganism. Each test was repeated 5 times. Results revealed that all concentrations of CHX and NaOCl without organic load produced zones of antimicrobial activity against the tested strains. Whereas samples containing organic load exhibited inhibition zones although the diameters were smaller than in the absence of organic load.