Effect of intracanal medicaments used in endodontic regeneration procedures on microhardness and chemical structure of dentin

OBJECTIVES This study was performed to investigate the effects of different intracanal medicaments on chemical structure and microhardness of dentin. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty human dentin discs were obtained from intact third molars and randomly assigned into two control groups and three treatment groups. The first control group received no treatment. The second control group (no medicament group) was irrigated with sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), stored in humid environment for four weeks and then irrigated with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). The three treatment groups were irrigated with NaOCl, treated for four weeks with either 1 g/mL triple antibiotic paste (TAP), 1 mg/mL methylcellulose-based triple antibiotic paste (DTAP), or calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2] and finally irrigated with EDTA. After treatment, one half of each dentin disc was subjected to Vickers microhardness (n = 10 per group) and the other half was used to evaluate the chemical structure (phosphate/amide I ratio) of treated dentin utilizing attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (n = 5 per group). One-way ANOVA followed by Fisher's least significant difference were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS Dentin discs treated with different intracanal medicaments and those treated with NaOCl + EDTA showed significant reduction in microhardness (p < 0.0001) and phosphate/amide I ratio (p < 0.05) compared to no treatment control dentin. Furthermore, dentin discs treated with TAP had significantly lower microhardness (p < 0.0001) and phosphate/amide I ratio (p < 0.0001) compared to all other groups. CONCLUSIONS The use of DTAP or Ca(OH)2 medicaments during endodontic regeneration may cause significantly less microhardness reduction and superficial demineralization of dentin compared to the use of TAP.