cytotoxicity of a new nano zinc-oxide eugenol sealer on murine fibroblasts

introduction: the aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of a new nano zinc-oxide eugenol (nzoe) sealer in comparison with ah-26 and pulpdent root canal sealers. methods and materials: the l929 mouse fibroblast cells were cultivated and incubated for 24, 48 or 72 h with different dilutions (1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32) of culture media previously exposed to either of the test sealers naming nzoe, ah-26 or pulpdent. at the end of incubation period, the effect of sealers on cell viability was evaluated using mosmann’s tetrazolium toxicity (mtt) colorimetric assay. the data was compared using the one-way analysis of variance (anova) followed by the tukey’s post hoc test for multiple comparisons. results: after 24, 48 or 72 h, both nzoe and pulpdent sealers inhibited cell viability at 1/1, 1/2 and 1/8 dilutions. within the 24 and 48 h, the ah-26 sealer reduced the cell viability at all dilutions except the 1/32 solution; however after 72 h even the 1/32 dilution was cytotoxic. conclusion: the biocompatibility of the nano zinc-oxide eugenol sealer was comparable to pulpdent sealer and lower than ah-26.