EVALUATION OF THE ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF CALCIUM HYDROXIDE, CHLORHEXIDINE, AND CAMPHORATED PARAMONOCHLOROPHENOL AS INTRACANAL MEDICAMENT - A CLINICAL AND LABORATORY STUDY

The antibacterial activities of camphorated paramonochlorophenol, chlo rhexidine, and calcium hydroxide were compared using a clinical and la boratory evaluation. In the clinical experiment, root canals that yiel ded positive cultures a week after complete chemomechanical preparatio n and camphorated paramonochlorophenol dressing were medicated with on e of the three substances tested. Postmedication samples were taken fr om the canal 1 week later. In the laboratory experiment, the agar diff usion test was used to evaluate the inhibitory activity of the medicam ents against bacteria commonly found in endodontic infections. The res ults of the clinical evaluation showed that all medicaments were effec tive in reducing or eliminating the endodontic microbiota, as demonstr ated by the incidence of negative cultures. There was no statistically significant difference among the medicaments tested. In the laborator y evaluation, camphorated paramonochlorophenol showed the largest zone s of bacterial inhibition against all bacterial strains tested.