Purpose: To evaluate the antimicrobial effect of a new active oxygen fluid (Blue®m) as a root canal irrigant against Enterococcus faecalis compared to sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl).
Material and Methods: Forty-five extracted single-canaled human teeth were selected, received root canal preparation, autoclaved, and contaminated with Enterococcus faecalis. The specimens were randomly allocated into three groups: Group (A) served as the negative control, receiving irrigation with saline (n = 15); Group (B) was irrigated with 5.25% NaOCl (n = 15); and Group (C) was irrigated with 10 mL of Blue®m (n = 15). Microbial sampling from the root canals was performed before and after irrigation. The difference between the pre-irrigation and post-irrigation colony-forming units (CFU/mL) was calculated. The data was analysed using a one-way ANOVA followed by post-hoc Tukey tests. The significance level was set at 5%.
Results: Blue®m statistically significantly reduced the bacterial load compared to saline (p = 0.009), but NaOCl was most effective, outperforming both (p 0.0001).
Conclusion: Irrigation with Blue®m demonstrated antibacterial efficacy against Enterococcus faecalis, but it was not as effective as NaOCl.
Keywords: Enterococcus faecalis, irrigant, root canal irrigation, sodium hypochlorite, oxygen
