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EvaluationofantimicrobialefficacyofAloeveraanditseffectivenessindecontaminatingguttaperchacones

JConservDent.2012JulSep15(3):246248.

PMCID:PMC3410334

doi:10.4103/09720707.97949

EvaluationofantimicrobialefficacyofAloeveraanditseffectivenessin
decontaminatingguttaperchacones
PrakashPAthiban,BikashJyotiBorthakur,SGanesan,andBSwathika
DepartmentofConservativedentistryandEndodontics,MahatmaGandhiPostGraduteInstituteofDentalSciences,(Govt.ofPuducherryInstitution),
Puducherry,India
Addressforcorrespondence:Dr.PrakashPAthiban,DepartmentofConservativedentistryandEndodontics,MahatmaGandhiPostGraduteInstitute
ofDentalSciences,(Govt.ofPuducherryInstitution),IndiraNagar,Gorimedu,Puducherry605006,IndiaEmail:prakash4bds@gmail.com
Received2012Jan26Revised2012Mar10Accepted2012Mar13.
Copyright:JournalofConservativeDentistry
ThisisanopenaccessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionNoncommercialShareAlike3.0Unported,whichpermits
unrestricteduse,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited.

ThisarticlehasbeencitedbyotherarticlesinPMC.

Abstract

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Aim:

TheaimofthisstudywastoevaluatetheantimicrobialefficacyofAloeveraandtodetermineitseffectivenessin
decontaminatingguttaperchacones.
MaterialsandMethods:

AconcentratedextractofAloeverawasusedtocheckfortheantimicrobialefficacyusingtheagarwelldiffusion
method.PresenceofzonesofdiffusionwasidentifiedagainstthreecommonGPcontaminantsnamely,E.coli,
E.faecalisandStaph.aureus.NewGPCones,freshlytakenoutofthepacketwerethendecontaminatedfor
1minuteusingAloeveragelandthenplacedinthioglycolatebrothtocheckforthepresenceofturbidity.
Results:

Thezonesofinhibitionontheagarplateweremeasuredas24mm,21mmand24mmrespectively.Thebroth
remainedclearevenafter48hoursofincubation.
Conclusion:

WeconcludethatAloeveraisindeedeffectiveasaGPdecontaminantanditholdsapromisingfutureasamedium
forstorageofGPcones.
Keywords:Aloevera,decontamination,guttaperchacones
INTRODUCTION

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Theprimaryobjectiveofendodontictherapyistomaintainanasepticchainrightfromtheaccessopeningtothe
permanentcoronalrestorationofthetooth.Eliminatingordecreasingthenumberofmicroorganismsisof
considerableimportanceforendodonticsuccess.Guttapercha(GP)isadriedcoagulatedextractofplantsof
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palaquiamoftheblancogenusofsapotaceaefamily,andwasintroducedtodentistryin1847byEdwinTruman.
[1,2]Itstillcontinuestomaintainitspositionasanimportantdentalmaterialandhasemergedastheprimeroot
canalfillingmaterial.TheSSWhiteCompanybeganmarketingGPpointsfordentalusein1887.GPsupplied
commerciallyisnotusuallysterilizedordecontaminatedbeforeobturation.Also,itcannotbesterilizedbymoistor
dryheatasthiscarriesariskofphysicaldeformation.However,chairsidedecontaminationpriortoobturation
cannotbeignored.Manychemicalssuchas,hydrogenperoxide,chlorhexidine,ethylalcohol,polyvinylpyrolidone
iodine,quartenaryammoniumcompoundshavebeentriedforGPdecontamination.Recently,theuseofelectron
beamsterilizationhasalsobeentried.However,noneofthesemethodshavebeenprovenasfullyeffective.The
recommendedmethodfordecontaminationofGPpointsconsistsoftreatingtheconesusinga1%Sodium
hypochloritefor1minute(Milton'ssolution),or0.5%Sodiumhypochloritefor5minutes(Dakin'ssolution).[3]
Here,theriskofSodiumhypochloritecausingcrystaldepositionwithinthecanalswhichcanimpedetheobturation
cannotbeignored.Thepurposeofthisstudywastoevaluatetheeffectivenessofaherbalalternative,Aloeveragel
forrapiddecontaminationofguttaperchacones.
AloebarbadensisMill,isashortsucculentherbresemblingacactus,withgreendaggershapedfleshy,spinyand
marginatedleaves,filledwithaclearviscousgel.Aloeverahaspotentantibacterial,antifungal,andantiviral
properties.[4,5]TheantimicrobialeffectsofAloeverahavebeenattributedtotheplant'snaturalanthraquinones
whichhavedemonstratedinvitroinhibitionofMycobacteriumtuberculosisandBacillussubtilis.Aloejuicehas
beenfoundtobebacteriostaticagainstStaphylococcusaureus,StreptococcuspyogenesandalsoSalmonella
paratyphi.[6,7]InaninvitrodiscdiffusionstudybySuleymanetalStreptococcusfaecalisandCandidaalbicans
wereculturedtocontain108109CFUmL/1levelsoforganism.A100%Aloeverajuiceobtainedfromthecold
pressedleavesoftheplantwereusedandtheresultsobtainedshowedsignificantzonesofinhibitionof20mmand
30mmagainstboththeseorganisms[8].Aloeveraisalsoknowntobevirucidal,especiallyagainstherpesvirus.
MATERIALSANDMETHODS

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Testorganisms

ReferencestrainsofthreemostcommonGPcontaminants,Eschericiacoli,Enterococcusfaecalisand
StaphylococcusaureuswereobtainedfromtheDepartmentofMicrobiology,JIPMER,Puducherry.
Preparationoftheextract

Theleavesoftheplantwerewashedwithdistilledwater,cutopened,andfreshpulpwascollected.Thegelwas
driedinanovenat80Cfor48hoursandthenpowdered.Anethanolextractwasobtainedbydissolving20grams
ofthepowderin200mlofethanol.ThecontentswerethenfilteredthroughWhatmannfilterpaperno1,andthe
filtratewasevaporatedfordryness.
AntimicrobialactivityofAloevera

TheantibacterialactivityoftheextractwastestedusingAgarwelldiffusiontechnique.Thereferencestrainswere
culturedovernightinthioglycolatebroth,andtheculturewasstreakedonaplateofbloodagar.Threewellsof5
mm5mmmeasureweremadewiththehelpofatemplateonthesurfaceoftheagarplate.About0.1mlofthe
extractwasdeliveredintothewellusingamicropipette.Theothertwowellswerefilledwith5.25%ofsodium
hypochloriteand0.9%normalsalineaspositiveandnegativecontrols,respectively.Theywerethenincubatedat
37Cfor24hours,andcloselymonitoredforthedevelopmentofclearzonesaroundtheextracts.Theantibacterial
activitywasassessedbythediameteroftheinhibitionzone.Aclearzoneofinhibitionwasobtainedagainstallthe
threeorganisms.
GuttaPerchadecontamination

AnewpackofDiaProTplus(DiadentEurope.B.V,Almere,Netherlands)F2SizeProtaperguttaperchapoints
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wereusedfortheprocedure.Thepackwasopenedundersterileconditionsandfourpointsweretakenoutusinga
steriletweezer.Thepointswerethenplacedinsidethefreshlypreparedthioglycolatebroth,andincubatedfor24
hours.Simultaneously,fournewGPconeswereremoved,anddecontaminatedforoneminutein90%Aloevera
gel.Theconeswerethenremovedfromthegel,andcleanedfreeofthegelusingasterilegauze,andthen
incubatedinthioglycolatebrothfor24hours.Boththetubeswerethencloselymonitoredforthedevelopmentof
turbidity.
RESULTS

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Theantimicrobialefficacywasassessedbythepresenceofzonesofinhibition.Escherichiacoli,Enterococcus
faecalis,Staphylococcusaureusshowed24mm,21mmand24mminhibitionzonesrespectively,whichwas
almostequivalentto5.25%Sodiumhypochloriteusedasthecontrol[Table1].Thedecontaminatingefficacywas
thenassessedbytheoccurrenceofturbidityinthethioglycolatebroth.TheGPconeswhichwerenot
decontaminatedanddirectlyplacedinthebrothdevelopedturbidity.TheconesdecontaminatedwithAloeveraand
thenplacedinthebrothremainedclearevenafter24hours,indicatingtheabsenceofthemicrobialcontaminants.
Table1
Zonesofinhibitioninmillimeters(mm)obtainedagainstthetestorganisms
DISCUSSION

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TheimportanceofGPdecontaminationtopreventanybacterialcontaminationoftherootcanalduringthe
obturationprocedureisnowwidelyrecognizedinendodonticpractice.Thus,itisimperativetoemployarapid,
reliable,inexpensiveandeffectivedecontaminant.Glutaraldehydehasbeeneffectivelyusedasachemosterilizeror
ahighleveldisinfectant.Aqueoussolutionsof2%glutaraldehydehaveabroadspectrumofactionandthus
effectiveagainstmostofthemicroorganisms,andhasbeenusedeffectivelyfordecontaminatingendodonticfiles
priortosterilizationinaglassbeadsterilizerHowever,BoucherfoundthatBacillussubtilissporesareresistantto
treatmentwithGlutaraldehyde.[911]70%concentratedEthanoliswidelyusedindentistry.However,studies
indicatethatitprovidesanintermediatelevelofdisinfection,andthesurfacerequiringdecontaminationrequiresto
besubmergedatleastfor10minutes.[12]2%Chlorhexidinekillsbacteriabydisruptionofthecellmembranesand
byinducingprecipitationofthecytoplasm.IthashoweverbeenreportedbySequeiraetal.thatitisineffectiveeven
after10minutesofsurfaceexposureandrequiresmuchlongerdurationsofcontact.[1315]
Sodiumhypochloritehasastrongantibacterialandsporicidaleffect,andactsbyamechanisminvolvingthe
liberationofactivechlorine,(apowerfuloxidizingagent)whichinturninactivatesthebacterialenzymes.Sodium
hypochlorite5.25%hasbeenfoundtobeeffectiveindecontaminatingGPcones.However,itisimperativethat
afterdisinfection,theGPconeshouldberinsedinethylalcoholtoremovecrystallizedsodiumhypochloritebefore
obturationasthecrystalsmayimpairthehermeticseal.Aloeverahasbeenusedfromtimeimmemorialforthe
treatmentofamultitudeofailmentsrangingfrompepticulcerstoitsuseincosmetics.Ithasawellestablished
antimicrobialactivityascribedtocompoundsthatarenowspecificallyidentifiedaspcoumaricacid,ascorbicacid,
pyrocatecholandcinnamicacid.[15]AnothermajoradvantageisthatAloeveragelhasbeenfoundtobeeffective
indecontaminatingGPconeswithinoneminute.Tosubstantiatetheseresults,furtherindepthstudiesincorporating
moreisolatesfromclinicalsamplesarerequired.
CONCLUSION

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Withinthelimitsofthisstudy,itcanbeconcludedthatAloeveragelcanbeusedeffectivelyfordecontaminating
GPconeswithinashortduration,andholdsapromisingfutureasamediumforstorageofGPpoints.
Footnotes
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SourceofSupport:Nil
ConflictofInterest:Nonedeclared.

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ArticlesfromJournalofConservativeDentistry:JCDareprovidedherecourtesyofMedknowPublications

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