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Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the microbial efficacy of Moringa oleifera leaf extract, octenidine dihydrochloride (OCT), NaOCl, and their combinations as intracanal irrigants against Enterococcus faecalis ., Materials and Methods: Sixty single-rooted mandibular premolars were decoronated followed by root canal preparation. Each root specimen was autoclaved, inoculated with E. faecalis , and incubated at 37°C for 48 hr. Then, the specimens were divided into six groups based on the irrigation solution used: 2.5% NaOCl (Group 1), 0.1% OCT (Group 2), M. oleifera leaves extract (Group 3), a combination of M. oleifera extract and 1.25% NaOCl (Group 4), a combination of M. oleifera extract and OCT (Group 5) and normal saline (Group 6). Microbial samples were taken from each root canal before (S1) and after (S2) irrigation and the bacterial viability was assessed using colony-forming units (CFU) on bile esculin agar plates., Results: Comparing the number of CFU/ml before and after irrigation showed a significant reduction ( P < 0.001) in all studied groups. Comparison between the CFU/ml after irrigation by NaOCl and each of the combination groups showed a significant difference., Conclusion: M. oleifera leaves extract and 0.1% OCT solutions have antibacterial effect against E. faecalis comparable to 2.5% NaOCl and might be used as root canal irrigants. The combination groups showed better antimicrobial activities than individual irrigants. However, further studies are required to investigate the biocompatibility and possible toxic effects of the tested irrigants., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Afrah M. Alharbi et al.)

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of nanoparticles, zirconium dioxide (ZrO 2 ), titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ), and silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), on flexural strength (FS), hardness, and wear resistance of light cured dental composite resin., Materials and Methods: 210 rectangular and disc-shaped composite resin specimens were fabricated with dimensions (25 × 2 × 2 ± 0.03 mm) and (6×4 ± 0.03 mm) for FS, hardness, and wear resistance, respectively (70/test). Specimens of each test were divided according to nanofillers into four groups, unmodified as control, ZrO 2 (Z), TiO 2 (T), and SiO 2 (S) groups; each one was further subdivided into two subgroups according to nanoparticles concentration, 3wt.% and 7wt.% (Z3, Z7, T3, T7, S3, and S7), 10 specimens of each subgroup. A3-point bending test and Vickers hardness test were used for FS and hardness measurements, respectively. Wear resistance was evaluated by the differences in surface roughness of tested specimens before and after wear test. Two-way and 1-way ANOVA and Bonferroni's post hoc tests were done for data analysis ( α  = 0.05)., Results: Two-way ANOVA for FS and wear resistance showed that there was a significant interaction between type of nanoparticles and concentration of nanoparticles ( p < 0.001) while two-way ANOVA for hardness showed that both type of nanoparticles and concentration of nanoparticles had a significant effect ( p < 0.001), while the effect of their interaction was not statistically significant ( p =0.142). 1-way-ANOVA test showed significant increase in FS and wear resistance for all tested groups ( p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively) except T7 and S7. Also, there was a significant enhancement in hardness for all tested groups ( p < 0.001)., Conclusion: Modification of light cured composite resin with certain amounts of nanoparticles (3% and 7% of ZrO 2 and 3% of TiO 2 and SiO 2 ) can be beneficial in improving flexural strength and wear resistance while hardness of composite resin was increased with all NPs additions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Emad Azmy et al.)