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e28 Dohaithem et al. October 2011
Table I. Evaluation of the effect of the direct contact of tested materials on cultured Candida albicans
Contact (culturing) time
Tube Neg. control Pos. control BA fresh mix BA (24-hr set)
1 1h 1d 3d 5d 1h 1d 3d 5d 1h 1d 3d 5d 1h 1d 3d 5d
2 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
3 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
4 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
5 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
6 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
7 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
8 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
9 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
10 — — — — * * * * * * — — * — — —
BA, Bioaggregate; *, presence of growth; —, absence of growth (n ϭ 10 per test).
solution was placed into the wells containing the Table II. Means and medians for survival time
freshly mixed BA as well as the 24-hour set BA. In Meana
addition, 1 mL Sabouraud broth media was mixed with 95% Confidence
1 mL of Candida suspension in a culture well. This interval
served as positive control. For the negative control test, Lower Upper
2 mL Sabouraud broth was placed in culture well. The Bioaggregate Estimate SE bound bound
culture-cluster plates were then incubated at 37°C and CϪ 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
evaluated after 1 hour and 1, 3, and 5 days. At the end Cϩ 120.000 0.000 120.000 120.000
of each incubation period, aliquots of 0.1 mL were BA fresh mix 72.000 0.000 72.000 72.000
taken from each well without mixing the content of the BA 24-h set 24.000 0.000 24.000 24.000
Overall 54.000 7.380 39.536 68.464
well and transfered to tubes containing 5 mL fresh
Sabouraud broth. All tubes were vortexed and then CϪ, Negative control; Cϩ, positive control; BA, bioaggregate.
a
incubated at 37°C and observed for the subsequent 5 Estimate is limited to the largest survival time if it is censored.
days.
Growth of the fungi was observed daily by the pres-
ence of turbidity in the tubes. The presence of turbidity
was determined, and the purity of the culture was
Table III. Overall comparisons
checked by morphology of colonies onto Sabouraud
2 Df Sig.
agar. The results were statistically analyzed using Ka-
plan-Meier test at the level of significance ␣ ϭ .05. Log rank (Mantel-Cox) 62.086 3 .000
Breslow (generalized Wilcoxon) 53.886 3 .000
Tarone-Ware 57.746 3 .000
RESULTS Test of equality of survival distributions for the different levels of
The results are summarized in Tables I-III. bioaggregate.
Control
No fungal growth was shown in the negative control
samples during the period of examinations, whereas the 24-hour set BA
positive control samples demonstrated entirely fungal Fungal growth was observed during 1-hour and
growth. 1-day incubation of C. albicans with the set BA. When
the incubation period increased to 3 and 5 days, no
Freshly mixed BA fungal growth was observed.
Fungal growth was observed during 1-hour and Statistical analysis showed a highly significant dif-
1-day incubation of C. albicans with the freshly pre- ference between the negative and positive control
pared BA. Increasing the exposure time to 3 and 5 days groups (P ϭ .000) and between the freshly mixed and
of C. albicans to the freshly prepared BA, however, 24-hour set BA groups (P ϭ .000) after 24 hours’
resulted in complete inhibition of growth. observations.
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Volume 112, Number 4 Dohaithem et al. e29
DISCUSSION stances into the growth media of MTA and BA is
The method used in this study has an advantageous primarily responsible for killing C. albicans.
in allowing direct contact between fungi and the mate- Tantalum oxide is the major difference between
rial in solution.9 In addition, it minimizes possible MTA and BA. A significant amount of tantalum oxide
confounding factors in the experiment.3 Such advan- is present in the BA material. It has been used as
tages explained the rationale of its methodologic choice sutures, plates, and membranes in orthopedics because
in a previous study.4 The effectiveness of this method of its inertness.23,24 A strong inhibition zone when
was confirmed by the observation of the positive con- osteoblasts were grown has been reported by Steine-
trol samples. mann, whereas fibroblasts proliferated well on the tan-
A great deal of scientific evidence indicates that talum disk.25 The antimicrobial activity of tantalum
microorganisms involved in intraradicular or extrara- oxide was reported by Pratt and Smith.26 Thus, the
dicular infections are the major causative agents of presence of tantalum oxide could play a role in the
endodontic therapy failure, including fungi.10-13 Can- antifungal effectiveness of the BA material.
dida albicans has been reported to be the most com- In a previous study, we found that MTA (freshly
monly isolated fungal species. Siqueira and Sen re- mixed and 24-hour set) was effective in killing C.
ported that C. albicans is able to colonize root canal albicans after 24 hours of contact.4 In the present study,
walls and penetrate into dentinal tubules.14 Grossman15 BA displayed in vitro antifungal activity similar to
reported that the presence of Candida organisms in white MTA.
infected root canals causes a real problem in endodontic In conclusion, BA (freshly mixed and 24-hour set)
treatment. He insisted in eliminating these organisms displayed an in vitro effect on the tested C. albicans
for better prognosis. Candida albicans was found to be after 24 hours of contact.
more resistant than E. faecalis or Bacillus species when
evaluating the antimicrobial effects of citric acid and The authors thank Dr. Khalid Idriss his support and
sodium hypochlorite.16 In addition, Sen et al.17 reported critique.
that the antifungal properties of 0.12% chlorhexidine,
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