The Effectiveness of Three Irrigation Systems in the Enterococcus faecalis Reduction after Instrumentation with a Reciprocating Instrument

Objective This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of three irrigation systems: EndoActivator, passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI), and Easy Clean in the reduction of Enterococcus faecalis , after instrumentation with the reciprocating system, through microbiological collection and culture method. Materials and Methods A total of 60 extracted human lower premolars were used and standardized at 16 mm in length. The teeth were accessed, contaminated with E. faecalis , and incubated for 21 days at 37°C. Initial collections (S1) were made with an absorbent paper cone to confirm the contamination; subsequently, instrumentation was performed with WaveOne Primary. The teeth were divided into four groups according to the final irrigation protocol ( n = 15): group 1. EndoActivator; group 2, PUI; group 3, Easy Clean; and group 4, control group irrigated with saline solution sterile and without agitation. In the final irrigation, the agitation of the 17% ethylene amine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) solutions was used, then 2.5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl); in both for this, three cycles of 20 seconds each. After the chemical–mechanical preparation and agitation of the irrigating solutions, the final collections (S2) for counting the colony-forming units (CFU/mL) occurred. Results The Kruskal–Wallis test revealed that all the agitation systems reduced by 100% and the control group by 65.7%. Conclusion The control group presented a significantly higher amount of CFU/mL after the chemical–mechanical preparation than the other groups, which were similar to each other ( p > 0.05).