Title
Antibacterial efficacy: Sodium hypochlorite, chlorhexidine and herbal irrigants against Enterococcus faecalis
Authors
Mohd Zeeshan Ahmad1,*, Shweta Vijaykumar Sagare2, S. Manjari S. Pawde3, Ankita Sharma4, Shalini Pandey5 & Veer Kapilash6
Affiliation
1Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Rama Dental College Hospital & Research Centre, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India; 2Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University) Dental College and Hospital, Sangli, Maharashtra 416416, India; 3Department of Dentistry, Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra 440012, India; 4Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Faculty of Dental Sciences, SGT University, Gurugram, Haryana 122505, India; 5Dental Officer, ECHS, Namkum, Jharkhand 834010, India; 6Department of Pedodontics andPreventive Dentistry, Desh Bhagat Dental College & Hospital, Mandi Gobindgarh, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab 147301, India; *Corresponding author
Mohd Zeeshan Ahmad - E-mail:
askzeeshan9@gmail.com
Shweta Vijaykumar Sagare - E-mail: shweta.sagare@bharatividyapeeth.edu
Manjari S. Pawde - E-mail: manjari.gundewar@gmail.com
Ankita Sharma - E-mail: asankitasharma06@gmail.com
Shalini Pandey - E-mail: shalini.in.jss@gmail.com
Veer Kapilash - E-mail: dr.veer12686@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received August 1, 2026; Revised August 31, 2026; Accepted August 31, 2026, Published August 31, 2026
Abstract
Persistent Enterococcus faecalis biofilm contributes to post-treatment endodontic disease and remains a useful model for comparing root-canal irrigants. This in vitro study inoculated 150 extracted single-rooted human premolars with E. faecalis for 21 days and randomized them to 3% sodium hypochlorite, 2% chlorhexidine, 10% Triphala, 10% neem, or saline (n=30 per group). Post-irrigation bacterial reduction was assessed by colony counts, confocal viable-cell percentage and residual dentinal-tubule penetration. Mean post-irrigation log10 CFU/mL was 1.18 ± 0.42, 1.74 ± 0.51, 2.33 ± 0.58, 2.56 ± 0.61 and 5.71 ± 0.45, respectively, with corresponding viable-cell percentages of 6.8 ± 3.1%, 11.9 ± 4.7%, 18.6 ± 6.2%, 22.4 ± 7.0% and 72.5 ± 8.4% (p<0.001). Thus, sodium hypochlorite produced high antibacterial effect, followed by chlorhexidine, while Triphala and neem significantly reduced E. faecalis compared with saline but remained less effective than conventional irrigants.
Keywords
Enterococcus faecalis, sodium hypochlorite, chlorhexidine, Triphala, neem, herbal irrigant, root canal disinfection
Citation
Ahmad et al. Bioinformation 22(8): 5466-5470 (2026)
Edited by
Hiroj Bagde
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
