Irrigants used in endodontic treatment – Review of the literature

Abstract

Endodontic treatment can be successful if we use the appropriate techniques to prepare the canals in combination with the correct application of chemical agents and tight sealing of the root canal system. After the mechanical preparation of the canal, a lot of bacteria remains in the numerous branches, and the presence of bacteria in the canal has a negative influence on the final treatment result. The use of a rinsing agent supports the removal of intracanal micro-organisms and obtaining effective disinfection, which increases the probability of success of endodontic treatment. This study presents a review of the literature concerning the rinsing means which are used most often during root canal treatment. The authors describe the antibacterial properties of sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine, novel irrigants such as alexidine and octenidine, peroxide’s effect, the effect of chelation agents like disodium versenate and citric acid, and also ethyl and isopropyl alcohol. Unfortunately, there is not a canal rinsing liquid which could fulfill all the requirements. Therefore, it is extremely important to know all the negative and positive points of particular preparations and the scope of their activity in order to use such an agent in the correct way, depending on the clinical situation.