Comparing antimicrobial effect of cupral and calcium hydroxide paste with electrophoresis in apical part of root canals blocked by separated instrument

Introduction: this study compared the antimicrobial effect of electrophoresis withcalcium hydroxide and electrophoresis with cupral paste in the apical area blockedby the separated instrument.materials and methods: a total of 72 single-rooted human teeth were involved inthe study, each decoronated to a length of 15 mm. following the determination ofthe working length and root canal preparation, the teeth were autoclaved andsubsequently infected with enterococcus faecalis. intentional fracture of a rotaryinstrument occurred 3mm above the apical terminus of the canal. the sampleswere then randomly assigned to six groups: groups g1 and g2 received cupralpaste (humanchemie gmbh, germany) and calcium hydroxide paste(humanchemie gmbh, germany), respectively, with the application of electriccurrent. in g3, sterile normal saline was used with electrophoresis. for g4 and g5,cupral and calcium hydroxide pastes were applied to the root canal withoutelectrical current, respectively. g6 was used as the positive control. following allinterventions, the 3mm apical segment of the specimens was removed, and theantimicrobial effect was assessed by counting colony-forming units (cfus) in thiscanal area.results: cupral paste, cupral paste with electrophoresis, and calcium hydroxidewith electrophoresis demonstrated a significant reduction in bacteria beyond theseparated instrument (p<0.05). however, calcium hydroxide and electrophoresisalone did not exhibit statistically significant antimicrobial activity (p> 0.05). therewas no statistical difference observed between cupral paste activated byelectrophoresis and calcium hydroxide activated by electrophoresis (p> 0.05).conclusion: electrophoresis enhanced medicament penetration and antimicrobialefficiency in the canal blocked by the separated instrument. cupral paste activatedby electrophoresis demonstrated superior performance in all interventions.