To evaluate the effectiveness of tagetes erecta and 5.25% sodium hypochlorite at different time intervals against enterococcus faecalis contaminated root canals-an invitro study

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of Tagetes erecta and 5.25% sodium hypochlorite at different time intervals against Enterococcus Faecalis in contaminated root canals. Materials and Methods: Forty five biomechanically prepared single rooted teeth were selected and were inoculated with Enterococcus faecalis and randomly divided into 4 groups and control group containing 9 samples each. Group 1 samples were treated with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCL) for 1 min, Group 2 specimens were treated with Tagetes erecta for 1 min. Group 3 samples were treated with sodium hypochlorite for 5 min and group 4 samples were treated with Tagetes erecta for 5 min and saline as final irrigant in all groups. The antimicrobial efficacy were tested by collecting dentinal chips from the inner walls of the canal and the number of colony forming units of viable E.faecalis obtained on agar plates were statistically analysed by One way Anova and Post hoc Tukey’s analysis with a significance level at p<0.01 Results: There was no statistically significant difference between 5.25% sodium hypochlorite and Tagetes erecta in 5 min time interval. Conclusion: The antimicrobial efficacy of Tagetes erecta is more or less equal to Sodium Hypochlorite as root canal irrigants.