Laboratory assessment of antibacterial efficacy of five different herbal-based potential endodontic irrigants

Introduction: Studies in the pharma industry have shown herbal plants as a potential source of bioactive compounds and antibacterial efficacy. These medicinal plants are also used in manufacturing modern medicines. This study is to evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of various herbal extracts such as Azadirachta indica, Ocimum tenuiflorum, turmeric, Aloe vera and Morinda citrifolia as an endodontic irrigant against Enterococcus faecalis and compare with the sodium hypochlorite alone and that with ultrasonic irrigation - an in vitro study. Materials and Methods: A firsthand study was conducted to find the bacterial inhibition of E. faecalis of herbal extracts. For this purpose, 30 samples were extracted and suspended with E. faecalis for each of the seven groups. The irrigating groups were divided into five herbal groups: A. indica, O. tenuiflorum, turmeric, Aloe vera and M. citrifolia. It was formed to determine the alternative against the two other groups, sodium hypochlorite alone and sodium hypochlorite, with ultrasonic irrigation. The readings (zone of inhibition) obtained from the agar well diffusion method were subjected to the statistical analysis using the SPSS software (19.0), wherein analysis of variance was used. The P value was set at 0.05. Results: The study demonstrated that A. indica was highly efficient amongst the herbal groups studied against E. faecalis. It was better than other extracts and comparable to sodium hypochlorite alone and with ultrasonic irrigation. The average zone of inhibition for the stated herbal ingredient was better than the commercially used chemical ones. However, there was no statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) between all the groups studied. The null hypothesis was hence not rejected. Conclusions: The five strong herbal irrigants such as A. indica, O. tenuiflorum, turmeric, Aloe vera and M. citrifolia were found to be the better alternatives against sodium hypochlorite alone and sodium hypochlorite with ultrasonic irrigation. The experiment conducted proved positive with mean results.