Antimicrobial efficacy of clindamycin and triple antibiotic paste as root canal medicaments on tubular infection: An in vitro study

This study compared the antibacterial effect of 2% clindamycin and 2% and 100% concentration of triple antibiotic paste (TAP) on an Enterococcus faecalis biofilm. Dentinal tubules of 100 root specimens were infected and randomly assigned to five groups. A total of 1000 mg mL ⁻¹ of TAP, 20 mg mL ⁻¹ of TAP and clindamycin, calcium hydroxide or methylcellulose (control) were placed in the root canal for 1 week. After treatment, dentine shavings were collected from 200 and 400 μm dentine depth and the number of colony-forming units (CFU) per mg was determined. Reduction in viable bacteria in first three groups was significantly better than calcium hydroxide and control groups. However, the antimicrobial effectiveness among these three groups was not significantly different from each other. There was no significant difference between data at 200 and 400 μm in all groups except the Ca(OH) ₂ group. The antibiofilm effect of clindamycin was comparable with TAP, so it may be used instead of TAP.