A novel plant based intra canal medicament: ease of removal and effect on radicular dentine microhardness

Abstract

Abstract Background This study aimed to evaluate the remaining amount of intra canal medicament in the root canals and their effect on microhardness of radicular dentine. In this study, ninety straight single-rooted teeth were used. Teeth were decoronated at the cemento-enamel junction to ensure a uniform root length of 14 mm (± 1 mm). Root canals were prepared using ProTaper rotary files till size F5. The teeth were then randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups (n = 30); Group 1: Ca(OH)2 pastes (Metapex), Group 2: Moringa oleifera leaf powder mixed with Moringa oleifera extract liquid and Group 3: Moringa oleifera root powder mixed with Moringa oleifera extract liquid. The access openings of all teeth were sealed with Cavit and all teeth were kept in the incubator at 37 °C and 100% humidity for 1 week. After 1 week, the intra canal medicament paste was removed from all teeth. For examination of the ease of removal of the intracanal medicaments, root canals were sectioned longitudinally into buccal and lingual halves and were examined under stereomicroscope at 25× magnification. The remaining amount of intracanal medicaments was calculated using image analysis software (Image j). For microhardness evaluation, forty-five specimens were longitudinally sectioned in a bucco-lingual direction then the roots were split. The root segments were then horizontally embedded in autopolymerizing acrylic resin leaving their dentin surface exposed. The dentin surface of the mounted specimens was ground flat and smooth and polished to obtain a smooth surface. Microhardness measurement was recorded for each sample at baseline before and after application of the three intracanal medications using Vickers Microhardness Tester at magnification of 100× using a 25 g load for 10 s. Results Regarding the evaluation of the ease of removal of the intracanal medicaments after irrigation: apically, the Ca(OH)2 recorded the highest mean value of the residual remnants with a statistically significant difference with both Moringa oleifera leaf and root. The microhardness evaluation results showed that all groups showed increase in the microhardness after application of the intracanal medicament for 1 week with no statistically significant difference between them. Conclusions Moringa oleifera could be removed easily from the root canals and showed increase in the microhardness of root canal dentin similar to the commonly used calcium hydroxide.