A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF EFFICACY OF TETRACYCLINE HCL, EDTA & HYALURONIC ACID GEL AS ROOT BIOMODIFICATION AGENTS. -AN IN-VITRO SEM STUDY

Background: Scaling and Root Planing alone leaves a smear layer on the root surface which may interfere with reattachment of cells to root surface during regenerative periodontal therapy. Root bio-modification has been advocated for smear layer removal which may enhance regeneration.

Objective: To evaluate and compare effect of 17% Ethylenediamine Tetra Acetic acid (EDTA), Tetracycline HCL and 1% Hyaluronic Acid gel as root conditioning agents on periodontally involved root surfaces of extracted teeth using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).

Materials And Method: Freshly extracted 10 single rooted human teeth were sectioned into 30 samples and were segregated into 3 groups:

1.      Group â…  - tetracycline HCl (pH 1.6),

2.      Group â…¡ – EDTA 17% (pH 7.3),

3.      Group III – HA gel 2%. The samples were treated with respective agents and were viewed under 4000X magnification using a SEM. The specimens were assessed for the Residual smear layer score, Number of patent tubules, Total number of dentinal tubules, Proportion of patent to total number of dentinal tubules and Mean Diameter of dentinal tubules.

Results: Group I and Group II were significantly better than Group III for all the measured parameters. However, the number of patent dentinal tubules, total number of dentinal tubules and mean diameter of dentinal tubules were significantly superior in Group II as compared to Group I.

Conclusion: Tetracycline HCL was found to be the most effective root conditioning agent amongst the 3 groups, for the assessed parameters.