Antimicrobial action of flaxseed and nigella sativa oil on selected oral pathogens in intracanal niche

Abstract

This research sought to identify the ability of flaxseed and Nigella sativa extract act as an alternative medicine for intracanal medicament which much safer for pregnant women and small children. The currently available conventional method of root canal therapy involves the use of chemical or synthetic antibiotic-based root canal dressing that are costly and had to be replaced. This will give the caustic side effects seen in the chemical or synthetic antibiotic dressing such as postoperative pain and etcetera. The potential use of intracanal dressing based herbal will provide better safety regards to lesser side effects. Flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum) and Nigella sativa have been shown to demonstrate some antimicrobial properties. However, its effects on oral pathogens are still limited. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial effect of the flaxseed, Nigella sativa and the combination between those two against the selected oral pathogen (Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus mutans, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis). The efficacy of flaxseed, Nigella sativa and their combination was tested using disc diffusion test, minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum bacteria concentration (MBC) on the selected oral pathogen. Then all the extracts were determined efficacy within the controlled environment of the intracanal model. All the tests were done in triplicate.