antibacterial effect of triantibiotic mixture, chlorhexidine gel, and two natural materials propolis and aloe vera against enterococcus faecalis: an ex vivo study

background: the aim of this ex vivo study was to compare the antimicrobial effect of triantibiotic paste, 0.2% chlorhexidine gel, propolis and aloe vera on enterococcus faecalis in deep dentin. materials and methods: ninety fresh extracted single-rooted teeth were used in a dentin block model. seventy-fi ve teeth were infected with e. faecalis and divided into four experimental groups (n = 15). experimental groups were treated with triantibiotic mixture with distilled water, 0.2% chlorhexidine gel, 70% ethanol + propolis and aloe vera. fifteen teeth treated with distilled water as the positive control and 15 samples, free of bacterial contamination, were considered as the negative control. gates- glidden drill #4 was used for removal of surface dentin and gates-glidden drill #5 was used to collect samples of deep dentin. the samples were prepared and colony-forming units were counted. data were analyzed by one-way anova and post hoc tukey tests. statistical signifi cance was defi ned at p < 0.05. results: triantibiotic mixture group exhibited the least bacterial growth. however, the rate of bacterial growth showed no signifi cant differences between chlorhexidine and propolis groups (p > 0.05). aloe vera had antibacterial effects on e. faecalis, but in comparison with other medicaments, it was less effective (p < 0.05). conclusion: this experimental study showed that triantibiotic mixture, 0.2% chlorhexidine gel, propolis and aleo vera were relatively effective against e. faecalis. all the intracanal medicements had similar effects on e. faecalis in deep dentin except for aloe vera. key words: aloe vera, chlorhexidine gel, enterococcus faecalis, intracanal medicaments, propolis, triantibiotic mixture