title: Disinfection of gutta-percha cones using three reagents and their residual effects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite, 2% chlorehexidine and MTAD in disinfecting gutta-percha cones and to analyze the surface topography of gutta-percha cones after the rapid chemical disinfection procedure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gutta-percha cones were immersed in suspensions of Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus separately. The cones were then immersed in 5.25% NaOCl, 2% CHX and MTAD for 30 seconds, 1 minute and 5 minutes separately. The disinfected cones were then incubated in thioglycollate media for 7 days. The thioglycolate media was sub-cultured and colony forming units were counted. For topographical examination of gutta-percha cones, the cones were immersed in respective solutions for one minute and allowed to air dry for 30 minutes after rinsing or without rinsing the cones with distilled water. The topography of the cones were then analyzed under SEM. Data was statistically analyzed using one way anova.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MTAD was found to be the most effective disinfecting solution. The topographical examination of GP cones found some deposits after the disinfection procedure in every group. These deposits were removed when the GP cones were rinsed with distilled water.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MTAD possesses superior bactericidal activity when compared with NaOCl and CHX and a final rinse with distilled water is essential after the disinfection procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, A.E.C.S Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Mahesh Martur
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Chandrappa
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, A.E.C.S Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Nofal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mundathodu
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, A.E.C.S Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Raghu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, A.E.C.S Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Farhat
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nasreen
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, A.E.C.S Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Pamarthi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kavitha
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, A.E.C.S Maaruti College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Ashwija
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shetty
keywords: Disinfection; efficacy; topography