IN-VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF A GLASS-IONOMER ENDODONTIC SEALER

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of a recently introduced glass ionomer endodontic sealer, Ketac Endo (KE), compared to a commonly used ZOE-based endodontic sealer, Roth's cement (RC), With the use of E. faecalis as a test organism, the agar diffus ion test (ADT) and direct contact test (DCT) were performed, For the D CT, the sealers were mixed and placed on the side wall of microtiter p late wells, A 10 mu L bacterial suspension was placed on the tested ma terial samples 20 min, 24 h, and 7 days after mixing, Bacteria were al lowed to directly contact the sealers for 1 h at 37 degrees C, Fresh m edia was then added and bacterial growth was measured every 30 min ove r 15 h, The results showed that in the ADT, freshly mixed KE exhibited a twofold greater inhibition zone than RC (p < 0.05); in the DCT, fre shly mixed KE and RC completely inhibited bacterial growth, The 24-h a nd 7-day samples of KE showed no antibacterial activity, whereas RC co ntinued to exhibit a strong effect with similar samples, It has been c oncluded that KE possesses a short-acting very potent and diffusable a ntibacterial activity, whereas RC extends its effect over 7 days after setting.