In vitro effectiveness of Brazilian brown propolis against Enterococcus faecalis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobialactivity of Brazilian brown propolis as an intracanal medicationagainst Enterococcus faecalis. Thirty dentin discs prepared from intactfreshly extracted bovine maxillary central incisors were infected withE. faecalis for 21 days. The specimens were distributed into six groupsaccording to the medicament used as follows: G1-calcium hydroxidepaste; G2-Carbowax 400 (control group); G3-20% brown propolis paste;G4-40% brown propolis paste; G5-20% brown propolis paste + calciumhydroxide paste; and G6-40% brown propolis paste + calciumhydroxide paste. The experimental pastes were placed into the canallumen and left for 14 days. After each period, irrigation was performedwith sterile saline to remove the medicament, and the canals weredried with sterile paper points. The dentin chips were removed fromthe canals with sequential sterile round burs at low speed and wereimmediately collected in separate test tubes containing BHI broth. Thetubes were incubated at 37°C, and microbial growth was analyzed byspectrophotometry after 15 days. All the experimental medicationssignificantly reduced the number of viable bacteria. The G4 andG5 pastes were more effective than the G1 paste, with 35.8%, 41%, and21.3% antibacterial activity, respectively. Brazilian brown propolisshows antibacterial capacity against E. faecalis