EVALUATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL EFFECT OF GLASS IONOMER CEMENT INCORPORATED WITH DIFFERENT ANTIBACTERIAL AGENTS: AN IN-VITRO STUDY

Abstract

Background: The atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) was developed with an intention of providing treatment in regions where routine treatment procedures were not accessible. However, the removal of carious dentin by this technique may not be complete and the use of GIC has the possibility of microleakage. So therapeutic benefit may be gained by combining antibacterial agents with GIC materials. The most appropriate choice of antimicrobial agents for combining with GIC would be chlorhexidine, cetrimide, cetylpyridinium chloride. Hence the use of a dental material with fluoride releasing ability with an additional antibacterial effect would definitely be an added advantage.

Objectives: To evaluate and compare the antibacterial activity of glass ionomer cement containing different antimicrobial agents with that of conventional glass ionomer cement against.

Material and Methods: An antibacterial agents Chlorhexidine gluconate (1%), cetrimide (1%) and cetylpyridinium chloride (1%) will be added to the GIC powder and the mixing will be done according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Conventional GIC will be used as the control. Disc shaped cement specimens using standardized brass moulds will be made. Prepared specimens will be used to check the antimicrobial activity at different time intervals.

Results: All the test groups had significantly higher amount of antibacterial activity compared to the control.

Conclusion: Hence, we can incorporate the different antibacterial agents in the conventional GIC for improved antibacterial activity.