Susceptibility of a polycaprolactone-based root canal filling material to degradation using an agar-well diffusion assay.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether Resilon, a polycaprolactone-based thermoplastic root filling material was susceptible to biodegradation by cholesterol esterase using agar-well diffusion assay of serially-diluted aqueous Resilon emulsions that were dispersed in agar.


METHODS
Emulsions of Resilon and polycaprolactone were prepared and dispersed in agar on culture plates. Two different concentrations of a cholesterol esterase (0.3 and 1.2 U/mL) were prepared and fed to wells prepared in the agar plates using an agar-well diffusion assay for examination of the degradation of polymeric materials.


RESULTS
Degradation of the emulsified Resilon was manifested as the formation of clear zones of different sizes around the agar wells. No clear zones were observed in agar wells that contain sterile distilled water as the negative control.
Hiraishi
Noriko
N
Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Sadek
Fernanda T
FT
King
Nigel M
NM
Ferrari
Marco
M
Pashley
David H
DH
Tay
Franklin R
FR
D000362:Agar; D003470:Culture Media; D004058:Diffusion; D006801:Humans; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008422:Materials Testing; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D012387:Root Canal Filling Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002787:Sterol Esterase / Q000737:chemistry
D003470:Culture Media; D011091:Polyesters; D012387:Root Canal Filling Materials; C486892:resilon sealer; C016240:polycaprolactone; D000362:Agar; D002787:Sterol Esterase