# An In Vivo Microbial Assessment of Cotton, Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Tape, and Endo Foam As Spacer Materials Combined With Intracanal Medicaments in Endodontic Treatment

## TL;DR

This study compares the effectiveness of three materials used in dental treatments to reduce bacteria in root canals over seven days.

## Contribution

The study evaluates PTFE tape and endo foam as novel spacer materials in endodontic treatment.

## Key findings

- PTFE tape and endo foam showed better microbial reduction than cotton.
- All groups had significant microbial reduction after seven days.
- Cotton and endo foam did not show a statistically significant difference.

## Abstract

Background: To evaluate the efficiency of cotton (Apollo Sterilized Cotton Balls, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, Chennai, India), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tape (Holdtite Plus PTFE Tape, Pidilite Industries, Mumbai, India), and endo foam (Super Endo, Shenzhen Superline Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, China) as an endodontic spacer material in combination with different intracanal medicaments.

Materials and methods: Ninety patients were randomized into three groups: Group I: cotton (n = 30), Group II: PTFE tape (n = 30), and Group III: endo foam (n = 30) after access opening and biomechanical preparation. Each group was further subdivided based on the intracanal medicament into subgroup A: sterile spacer (n = 10), subgroup B: spacer + calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) (Prime Dental Products Pvt. Ltd., Thane, India) (n = 10), and subgroup C: spacer + modified triple antibiotic paste (MTAP) (n = 10). Microbial load was assessed from samples collected from the access cavity at baseline (S1) and again after seven days (S2). Colony-forming units (CFUs) were determined after a 48-hour aerobic culture on brain-heart infusion (BHI) agar.

Results: All three groups showed a statistically significant difference between the baseline and after seven-day mean values (p = 0.045, p = 0.049, p = 0.047). Intergroup comparison revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean values between the cotton and PTFE tape groups, as well as between the PTFE tape and endo foam groups. The mean difference values between the cotton and endo foam groups, however, did not differ in a way that was statistically significant.

Conclusion: Within the limitations of the study, it can be concluded that the PTFE tape and endo foam groups performed better than cotton.