Stevia vs. triple antibiotic paste: An intracanal battle?

Background: Intracanal medicaments are vital in treating the infections of the deciduous dentition due to the large percentage of accessory canals that hasten the microbial spread to the periradicular region. Though countless medicaments have been produced to reduce the microbial load and aid symptomatic relief, they still do not fulfill every function of an ideal medicament.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the antimicrobial efficacy of Stevia rebaudiana (S. rebaudiana) and triple antibiotic paste (TAP) against Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis).

Material and methods: The present in vitro, parallel, double-blinded study had an equal allocation ratio. The specimens were prepared, randomly divided into 4 groups and inoculated with E. faecalis (ATCC35550). Following incubation, the first 3 groups were treated with S. rebaudiana, triple antibiotic therapy or carbopol gel, respectively, with the 4th negative control group left untreated. The microbial samples were collected before and after treatment, and the counts of colony-forming units (CFUs) were compared. The results were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis, Dunn's post-hoc and Wilcoxon's signed rank tests.

Results: The first 2 groups displayed a significant decrease in CFUs after drug application, while the carbopol and control groups showed an exponential increase. There was no statistically significant difference between the stevia and TAP groups (p = 0.630).

Conclusions: Stevia gel was comparable to TAP in terms of antimicrobial efficacy, and can therefore be considered a new alternative in intracanal treatment.