Resumo

Introduction: Studies addressing new drugs in order to improve the prognosis in the treatment of root canal infections have been currently highlighted. In order to minimize the deleterious effects to periapical tissues, some substances have been studied recently due to their antimicrobial, healing and analgesic properties. Objective: This study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of endodontic pastes, based on calcium hydroxide and propylene glycol, whose active substances were camphorated paramonochlorophenol (Paste A), chlorhexidine (Paste B) and Aloe vera (L.) Burm. fil. (Paste C). Methods and Material: It was used the direct contact method, by means of turbidimetric analyzes. For test-tubes, 0.13cm ³ of each paste was added to 1.5 mL of inoculated culture medium (Brain Heart Infusion Broth, Mueller Hinton Broth, or Sabouraud Dextrose Broth, depending on the microorganism tested). The bactericidal/fungicidal activity was confirmed by non-turbidity after further incubation (20 µl of the test-tube contents in 4 mL of sterile culture medium). All procedures were performed in triplicate. Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 51299, Kocuria rhizophila ATCC 9341, clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans ATCC 10231 were tested. Results and Discussion: It was observed that Paste A only showed bacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 51299. Paste B inhibited all microorganisms tested, except clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa, while Paste C showed bacterial activity for clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 51299. Fungicidal activity was not found for any paste tested. Paste B, followed by Paste C, were those which presented the best antimicrobial potential against endodontic microorganisms. There are studies in the scientific literature that corroborate our results for both pastes formulated with chlorhexidine and Aloe vera. Conclusion: The results increase the potential indication of such endodontic pastes in dentistry. However, further studies should be conducted in order to allow its usage in clinical practices.