Garlic extract efficacy against the viability of enterococcus faecalis (In vitro)

Objective: Enterococcus faecalis, Gram-positive facultative anaerobe capable of invading the dentinal tubules, is resistant to several irrigating solutions and intracanal medications. Motivated by the antibacterial effect exhibited by garlic extract against a wide variety of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as anaerobic bacteria such as Lactobacillus and E. faecalis, we aimed in this study to analyze the efficacy of garlic extract against the viability of E. faecalis from clinical isolates of nonvital primary root canals. Methods: We used MTT assay to determine the viability of E. faecalis after exposure to increasing concentrations of garlic extract (10%, 25%, 50%, and 100%) and chlorhexidine (CHX) 2% as a positive control. Results: We performed the analysis using the Kruskal–Wallis test and the post hoc test for multiple comparisons at a 0.05 significance level. At all concentrations, garlic extracts decreased the viability of E. faecalis. We found no significant differences between the viability values for 25%, 50%, and 100% garlic extracts (p>0.05); however, they were significantly different from the 10% extract and CHX 2% (p<0.05), both with a lower viability values. Conclusion: Our results showed that garlic extract was effective in decreasing the viability of E. faecalis.