Gutta-percha dissolving ability of Citrus limetta, essential oils and a customized emulsion: An in vitro study

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the GP dissolving property of ethanolic extract of sweet lime peel (Citrus limetta), peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and an emulsion (equal volumes of ethanolic extract of sweet lime peel, peppermint, and cedarwood oils) compared to xylene and chloroform (CHCl3). Methods: Equal weight of GP were divided into 7 groups and immersed for 5 min and 10 min in the test and control groups. Distilled water was used as a negative control. Absolute weight loss (WL) was calculated. Results: Data were analyzed using Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s pairwise comparison with a significance value of P ≤ 0.05. The median WL of GP in the solvents shows a significant difference at 5 min (P = 0.001) and 10 min (P = 0.000). After 5 min, the order of WL was highest in sweet lime peel extract, CHCl3, and emulsion followed by xylene and peppermint oil. After 10 min, the highest WL was seen in emulsion, CHCl3 followed by sweet lime peel and peppermint oil. Cedarwood oil had no GP solvent effect at both time intervals. Conclusion: Sweet lime peel extract, emulsion, and peppermint oil showed a significant GP dissolving effect at 5 and 10 min and were comparable to CHCl3. Cedarwood oil showed no GP dissolving effect.