Antibacterial Efficacy of Benefect™ Botanical Disinfectant in Comparison with Sodium Hypochlorite and Chlorohexidine Against Multiple Endodontic Pathogens: An Ex Vivo Study

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: Natural antibacterial agents, such as essential oils, can potentially be used for endodontic disinfection with less toxicity than other available irrigants such as sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and chlorhexidine (CHX). Benefect^TM is a formulation of essential oils with broad antibacterial spectrum efficacy. This study aims to compare the antibacterial efficacy of Benefect^TM to 6% NaOCl and 2% CHX irrigant solutions against multiple endodontic pathogens. <b>Methods</b>: The study utilized 100 extracted human single-canal permanent teeth. Samples were decoronated, instrumented, and autoclaved. The teeth were infected with <i>Streptococcus mutans</i>, <i>Enterococcus faecalis</i>, <i>Actinomyces naeslundii</i>, or <i>Porphyromonas gingivalis</i> for 6-24 h. The teeth were divided into four groups according to the irrigant solution used. Contact with each irrigant was maintained for 12 min. The antibacterial efficacy of each treatment was calculated relative to viable bacteria recovered after saline treatment. Statistical analysis was performed using Student's <i>t</i>-test. <b>Results</b>: All <i>S. mutans</i> samples treated with NaOCl, CHX, and Benefect^TM showed a complete absence of bacterial colonies when compared to saline (>99.9% killing). The <i>E. faecalis</i>, <i>A. naeslundii</i>, and <i>P. gingivalis</i> samples treated with all tested irrigants showed at least 99% antibacterial killing activity. There was no statistical difference in killing between these three antimicrobial treatments. <b>Conclusions</b>: Benefect^TM botanical disinfectant has comparable antibacterial efficacy to NaOCl and CHX against <i>S. mutans</i>, <i>E. faecalis</i>, <i>A. naeslundii</i>, and <i>P. gingivalis</i>.