The Evaluation of the Antibacterial and Antifungal Efficacy of Novel Kids Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (e-MTA) With ProRoot MTA and Glass Ionomer Cement

Background Most pulpal and periapical problems could be treated nonsurgically. However, in cases of infections, certain operations must be performed that require using materials with good antibacterial and antifungal efficacy. ProRoot mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) was marketed as gray- and white-colored preparations, composed of 75% Portland cement, 20% bismuth oxide, and 5% gypsum by weight. MTA, composed of powder and liquid as distilled water, formed a colloidal gel that further solidified and formed a hard cement within approximately four hours. The new endodontic material Kids e-MTA (Kids-e-dental, Mumbai, India) was introduced recently. It was also available as powder and liquid. It was a bioactive cement consisting of very fine hydrophilic particles of several mineral oxides. Aim This study compares the antimicrobial and antifungal efficacy of e-MTA (mineral trioxide aggregate) (Kids-e-dental, Mumbai, India), ProRoot MTA (Dentsply Sirona, Tulsa Dental, OK, USA), and glass ionomer cement (GIC) (GC Asia Dental Pte Ltd, Singapore). Materials and methods The agar diffusion method was used to test the materials. e-MTA, ProRoot MTA, and GIC were tested for their antibacterial efficacy against Enterococcus faecalis and antifungal efficacy against Candida albicans. The zone of inhibition was calculated and measured using a precision ruler. The collected data was put through Student’s unpaired t-test. Results and conclusions On conducting the tests and comparing the results, it was found that e-MTA had a slightly better antibacterial efficacy and almost similar antifungal efficacy compared to ProRoot MTA but significantly superior properties compared to GIC.