Antibiofilm Effect of Different Irrigation Solutions Activated with KTP Laser

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of Potassium Titanium Phosphate (KTP) laser-activated irrigation solutions on intraradicular Enterococcus faecalis biofilms in in-vitro conditions by using a scanning electron microscope. Materials and Methods: 120 single-root, single canal permanent mandibular premolar human teeth were used. Sterilization and disinfection of the teeth were performed. Enterococcus faecalis biofilms were obtained after 4 weeks by re-inoculation procedures. Each group was divided into 6 groups consisting of 20 roots and root canal disinfection protocols were applied using irrigation solutions with 5.25% NaOCl, saline, super-oxidized water solution, 8 ppm ozonated water, 2% CHX, 17% EDTA, all activated by KTP laser. It was smear-planted to a solid medium which split as before and after the disinfection applications for the aim of Counting Microorganism colonies from root canals and data were evaluated statistically. In this statistical evaluation one way ANOVA and Tukey tests were used. Before and after the irrigation procedures for the presence and elimination of biofilm the root canals were processed for scanning electron microscopy and biofilm was examined on the standard images. Results: As a result of the statistical comparison performed among all groups, while NaOCl ensures the highest amount of elimination as a positive control group, the lowest amount of bacterial elimination was detected in the saline group that applied as the negative control group (p<0.05). None of the experimental groups achieved the whole elimination of Enterococcus faecalis biofilm. While there was no statistically significant difference between super-oxidized water and aqueous ozone groups that indicated the strongest antibiofilm effect (p>0.05), EDTA showed the lowest antibiofilm effect (p<0.05). Conclusions: The use of 5.25% NaOCl solution activated by KTP laser, which shows the highest antibiofilm efficiency among the study groups, in clinical applications is very effective in terms of biofilm elimination in root canal treatments and is especially promising in the success of long-follow-up treatments. However, the KTP laser activation procedures of super-oxidized water solution and 8 ppm ozonated water may be insufficient as a safe disinfection method © This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License