Evaluation of In vitro antibacterial effect of calcium hydroxide paste with tea tree oil, thyme oil and peppermint oil against Enterococcus faecalis and its comparison with that of calcium hydroxide saline paste in primary teeth

Background: Various essential oils like tea tree oil, thyme oil, peppermint oil were mixed with calcium hydroxide cement to form the paste. Susceptibility of Enterococcus faecalis with all test materials was evaluated which was then compared with calcium hydroxide saline paste. Materials and Methods: Different types of pastes used in the study were: calcium hydroxide with tea tree oil paste (CaOH+TT), calcium hydroxide with thyme oil paste (CaOH+Th), calcium hydroxide with peppermint oil paste (CaOH+P), calcium hydroxide with saline paste (CaOH+S). CaOH+S was used as control paste with which all the other test materials were compared. Susceptibility of E.faecalis with all the test materials and control material was evaluated in terms of zones of inhibition using agar diffusion method. In this method, wells of 6mm diameter were punched in Muller Hincton agar, filled with test and control material, incubated at 37ºC for 24 hrs. and zones of inhibition measured in mm. All the data was statistically analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test at the significance level of 5% Results: It was observed that susceptibility of E.faecalis in the form if zones of inhibition (in mm) in decreasing order were: CaOH+Th paste (33.33±1.03)> CaOH+TT paste (24.00±1.78)> CaOH+S paste (17.33±3.01)> CaOH+P paste (12.66±1.03) with statistically significant difference between and within groups (0.0001, p<0.05). Conclusion: Best results were obtained with CaOH+Th paste followed by CaOH+TT paste, CaOH+S paste and CaOH+P paste. CaOH+Th paste can be effectively used as root canal filling material in primary teeth against the most resistant microorganism i.e; enterococcus faecalis.