Context: Sodium hypochlorite is the most commonly used irrigant but it has disadvantage like high cytotoxicity. So there is a need to find an alternative to 5.25% Sodium hypochlorite against microorganism Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans. Literature has shown that these 5 extracts namely Terminalia chebula, Myristica frangrans, Aloe barbadensis, Curcuma longa and Azadaricta indica has good properties which can be used as a potential endodontic irrigant.
Aims: To evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of various herbal extracts namely Curcuma longa (CL), Azadiracta indica (AI), Aloe barbadensis (AV), Myristica fragrans (MF) and Terminalia chebula (TC) as endodontic irrigant against Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).
Materials and methods: Eighty-four teeth were extracted and suspended with Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans. A preliminary study was first performed to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of extracts. The irrigating groups were divided into five herbal groups and 2 control groups. After irrigating the teeth the remaining microbial load was determined using qPCR.
Statistical analysis used: Statistical analysis was performed using Oneway Anova/Kruskal-Wallis test with post-hoc Tukey's HSD and was statistically significant (P < 0.05).
Results: It was shown that Neem was highly efficient to 5.25% NaOCl in reducing Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans within the root canals when compared with other extracts.
Conclusions: Neem leaf extract has a significant antimicrobial efficacy against Enterococcus faecalis and Candida albicans compared to 5.25% sodium hypochlorite.
Keywords: Candida albicans; Endodontic irrigant; Enterococcus faecalis; Herbal extracts; Microbiology; Polymerised chain.