Efficiency of different chemical agents in decontamination of gutta‐percha cones

Summary. Gutta‐percha cones were contaminated with various bacteria, and the efficiency of different chemical agents in their decontamination was studied. Chlorhexidine (2 per cent) and sodium hypochlorite (5.25 per cent) effectively decontaminated the cones within 10 minutes. Ethyl alcohol (70 per cent) and isopropyl alcohol (50 per cent) failed to decontaminate cones infected by bacillus subtilis within 10 minutes, but did so after 60 minutes. Paraformaldehyde tablets required 24 hours to decontaminate the cones of any of the bacterial strains used in this study. These results indicate that chlorhexidine (2 per cent) and sodium hypochlorite (5.25 per cent) may be effectively used as chairside decontaminating agents of gutta‐percha cones in endodontic therapy. They also confirm that paraformaldehyde may be effectively used in the long‐term sterilization of stored gutta‐percha cones.