In vitro evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of different antiseptics on contaminated gutta-percha cones

Objectives: the purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different antiseptics for decotamination of gutta-percha cones. Materials and methods: thirty-six cones were contaminated with standardized pure cultures of six different microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Candida albicans. The cones were treated for five minutes with different antiseptic solutions: 2% iodine alcohol, 3% sodium hypochlorite, 0.2% chlorohexidine and 5% citric acid. Results: iodine alcohol was the most effective for all the microorganisms, except for Candida albicans. For this microorganism, the best results were obtained with 3% sodium hypochlorite and 5% citric acid; these two solutions showed moderate activity on other microorganisms. Chlorohexidine was not effective on any of the microorganisms.