University Publications

Root canal failure is considered to be a common occurrence, and the most common organism that causes failure is Enterococcus Faecalis. E. faecalis is resistance to the commonly used intracanal medicament. This study aimed to evaluate efficiency of propolis as root canal medicament against E. faecalis, as well as determine the minimal inhibitory concentration of propolis that inhibit the growth of E. faecalis. To conduct this study, Ethanolic extract of propolis was prepared according to the method described by Sukhdev et. al. (2008), then dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide to make 100% stock, preparation of different concentration of propolis were done as 80%, 60%, 40%, 20% and 10%. Wells were made in a sterile Muller Hinton agar containing 1 ml of standardized bacterial stock suspension and filled with 0.1 ml of the different concentrations of the propolis extract, chlorhexidine 2% gel was used as control. Different concentrations of propolis were added using automatic microlitre pipette and allowed to diffuse at room temperature for two hours. The plates were then incubated in the upright position at 37 ºC for 24 hours. After the incubation period the diameters of the resultant growth inhibition zones were measured in mm, averaged and then the mean values were tabulated. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of propolis was found to be 60% concentration. Propolis was found to be effective against E. faecalis bacteria, It is comparable to chlorhexidine gel 2%.