Quantitative Assessment of the Efficacy of Two Irrigation Activation Systems

Aim of the present study was to determine the intraradicular microbiota of previously root canal-treated teeth with apical periodontitis using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) and to investigate the antibacterial effectiveness of different irrigation activation methods \[ XP-endo Finisher and EndoActivator \] that will make classical chemomechanical preparation more effective. This superiority, parallel, randomized clinical trial was conducted in the clinic of the Endodontic Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul. 20 patients with posttreatment apical periodontitis (one tooth each) were randomly allocated into two groups according to the used (n=10, for each): the EA group (A) or the XPF group (B). Total bacterial loads, as well as the amount of Enterococcus faecalis (E.faecalis) were determined before (S1) and after (S2) chemomechanical preparation and finally, after intracanal medication (S3) by means of ddPCR.