Microbiological assessment of contamination of gutta-percha cones used by post-graduation students

Resumo (EN)

Objective – The aim of this study was to assess by the turbidity method, the presence of microbial contamination in gutta-percha cones used by specialization students. Methods – Forty first series gutta-percha cones were collected and divided into 4 groups of different origins: cones in Group I were collected directly from the sealed package; cones in Group II were collected from the package which had already been open in the clinical environment; cones in Group III from the same origin as Group II but they were disinfected in a 2% sodium hypochlorite; and Group IV were cones collected from the sealed package but manipulated without wearing gloves. The presence or absence of turbidity in the medium was adopted as the evaluation criterion. Results – The results showed that the cones in Group I, II and III presented no contamination and all the cones in Group IV presented microbial growth. The data were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test which showed a level of significance of 1% for the conesin Group IV. Conclusion – It was concluded that the possibility of viable microorganisms existing in gutta-percha cones is minimal, and the use of disinfection methods is justified due to the possible contamination of the cones during incorrect manipulation.