Effectiveness of 5% and 10% Deconex53plus in Rapid Decontamination of Gutta-percha Cones

Background: Success of endodontics treatment depends on removing or reducing
microorganisms in root canals. Gutta-percha cones are now widely used to fill root canals.
Because of gutta-percha cones are deformed by heat sterilization methods (hot oven or autoclave),
rapid chemical decontamination is desired. The purpose of this study was to determine the
effectiveness of Deconex53plus for rapid decontamination of gutta-percha cones.
Materials and Methods: A total number of 480 gutta-percha cones were contaminated with
standard pure culture of three species of bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC: 25923,
Escherichia coli ATCC: 25922 and Bacillus subtilis ATCC: 6633). The cones were treated for 30
and 60 seconds with Deconex53plus at concentration of 5% and 10%. Then each cone was
transferred to a tube containing sterile normal saline and mixed for 30 seconds with vortex shaker.
This saline was diluted to 0.01%. Bacterial counting was carried out by drop counting method.
After incubation, colony forming unit per millimeter was calculated for each plate.
Results: Two concentrations of 5% and 10% Deconex53plus destroyed vegetative cells and
bacterial spores in 30 seconds. According to statistical analysis all solutions were efficient for cold
sterilization of gutta-percha cones at short time period.
Conclusion: Deconex53plus is a potent antiseptic agent because all contaminated gutta-percha
cones were decontaminated in 30 seconds. Because of irritative effects and crystallization of sodium
hypochlorite, Deconex53plus should be used for rapid decontamination of gutta-percha cones.