Topographical effects of Gutta Percha immersed in different concentration of Sodium Hypochlorite disinfection at different time interval: An atomic force microscopy study

• Author Details:   
• Bindu Meera John
• Aamir Purra
• Arindam Dutta
• Abdul Wahid Zargar

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Background: Aim of the study to evaluate the topographical effects of more than 5 min immersion of gutta-percha in different concentration of sodium hypochlorite with the help of Atomic Force Microscope.
Materials and Methods: This investigation was carried out on four standardized gutta percha (GP) cones (ISO size 60). The gutta-percha cones were cut 3mm from their tip and then immersed in 0.5%, 2.5%, 5.25% NaOCL and de-ionized water for 2mins, 5mins and 10 mins immersion time interval. De-ionized water served as a control. The topographical analysis in atomic force microscope (AFM) were performed for each cone on twelve different points (n=12) located between 1 and 2 mm from the cone tip after every immersion time period. After the immersion, the samples were thoroughly rinsed with 5 ml of distilled water to remove sodium /chloride crystals, and the region around the cone was dried with filter paper.
Results: The surface roughness of the gutta percha was evaluated by using AFM. The mean values of root mean square (RMS) for different groups were calculated and subjected to statistical analysis. Statistical analysis was done by one way Anova test & multiple comparison with Post–hoc Tukeys test. There was a statistically significant difference in the RMS values between 0.5%, 2.5% and 5.25% NaOCL groups (p<0.05) but there was no statistically significant difference between 0.5%NaOCL and control group (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Sodium hypochlorite immersion significantly decreased the RMS values of gutta-percha as the concentration of sodium hypochlorite was increased from 0.5% to 5.25%.
5.25% NaOCl immersion till 5 minutes decreased surface roughness but roughness increased significantly at 10 min with 5.25% NaOCl.

Keywords: Disinfection, Gutta percha, Sodium hypochlorite, Surface topography