Evaluation of tissue dissolution ability of modified chlorhexidine as a root canal irrigant

The first and main goal of root canal treatment is the elimination of microorganisms from the contaminated root canal system and providing an environment for the healing of periapical tissues. Instrumentation alone cannot effectively clean the complex root canal system. So use of irrigants along mechanical preparation is required. But no single solution is able to fulfill these actions completely. Chlorhexidine is one of the substances that is used as an irrigant in endodontics. It has broad antimicrobial spectrum, but it does not have the ability to dissolve organic tissues. It has been shown that the addition of surfactant in the solution can increases the ability of dissolve tissue. In this in vitro study tissue-dissolving capacity of sodium hypochlorite (5/25% and 2/5%), chlorhexidine (0/2%) and modified chlorhexidine (chlorhexidine + benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine + sodium lauryl solphate) were compared. Tissue samples prepared from bovine pulp and each of the samples immersed for 20 minutes in each test solution (changing the solution every 2 minutes).The samples were weighed before and after testing. The weight difference divided by the initial weight of the tissue sample, multiplied by 100, was defined as the percentage of tissue solubility. NaOCl 5/25% was more soluble than the other solutions. Except CHX 0/2% and saline no statistically significant differences was found between the tissue dissolving properties of other solutions and NaOCl 5/25%.The results of this study indicate that the use of 0/2%CHX+2%SLS as
irrigant in endodontic can show similar effect with NaOCl 5/25% in the solubility.