Aim of the study: This study was performed to evaluate the antibacterial effectiveness of Boswellic acids (BA) as root canal irrigation solution with Sodium hypochlorite, Chlorhexidine.
Materials and Methods: forty five patients having single rooted teeth with single canal diagnosed as necrotic pulps with chronic apical periodontitis were included in the study. Bacterial samples were taken from the root canal before preparation (S1) , Post instrumentation sample S2 after using the tested irrigants. All samples collected were transferred directly for microbiological analysis, and cultured on blood agar plates in aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and the bacterial growth was counted as colony forming units (CFUs) using manual counting technique. The anti-bacterial effectiveness of the tested materials was evaluated by the decrease in the CFUs from S1 to S2.
Results: NaOCl, CHX, and BA solutions showed significant reduction in the bacterial count from S1 to S2 (P < 0.05) with no significant difference between them P=0.136. Cleaning and shaping resulted in > 99.5% decrease in the count of bacteria from S1 to S2 samples.
Conclusions: BA could be considered as a promising root canal irrigant owing to its comparable antibacterial effect with the most commonly used root canal irrigants (NaOCl, CHX). BA gel reduced the possibility of post-operative pain compared to the other medicaments.
Keywords: Boswellia Carterii, Root canal treatment, Endodontic microbiology.