Antibacterial efficacy of herbal irrigants against Enterococcus faecalis: An in vitro study

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Enterococcus faecalis persists in root canals after chemo mechanical preparation and is a major cause of endodontic Enterococcus faecalis is a major cause of persistent root canal infection and endodontic treatment failure. Therefore, it is of interest to compare the antibacterial efficacy of Triphala, Neem, Propolis and Turmeric extracts against E. faecalis using in vitro assays. Ninety root canal specimens were assigned to six groups and antibacterial activity was evaluated by agar well diffusion, MIC and MBC assays. NaOCl showed the largest inhibition zone (22.4 +/- 1.8 mm), while Propolis showed the greatest activity among herbal irrigants, followed by Triphala, Neem and Turmeric (p<0.001). Thus, propolis showed superior antibacterial efficacy among herbal irrigants, supporting its potential as a biocompatible alternative for root canal irrigation.