A Comparison of Different Methods for Disinfection or Sterilization of Extracted Human Teeth to be Used for Dental Education Purposes

Objective: To determine efficacy of commonly used methods of disinfection/sterilization of extracted human teeth. Materials and methods: A total of 140 freshly extracted human single-rooted teeth were randomly divided into 14 different groups and sterilized using different methods: Formalin, hydrogen peroxide, quaternary ammonium, glutaraldehyde, thymol, boiling, autoclaving, keeping sodium chloride as control. Following the assigned treatment procedures, teeth from each group were placed individually in separate test tubes containing 10 ml of tryptic soy broth at 37°C for 48 hours. Evidence of growth was observed after 2 days. Results: A statistically significant difference in the outcomes was obtained when comparing the different methods of disinfection and sterilization. Conclusion: It was concluded that immersion in 10% formalin for 1 week, 5.25% sodium hypochlorite for 1 week or autoclaving at 121°C at 20 psi for 40 minutes were significantly better than all other methods tested.