PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to verify the antimicrobial effect of calcium hydroxide and iodoform on Enterococcus faecalis with different exposure times evaluating the bacterial morphologic alterations. METHODS: The antibacterial action was investigated in culture broth after zero, seven, fourteen and twenty-one days. Five mL samples were analyzed morphologically on the seventh day by transmission electron microscopy. The data of the antibacterial test were analyzed by Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: The results revealed that between the seventh and fourteenth day, there was a decrease in bacterial growth with both medicaments (P=0.098), where they were eliminated between the fourteenth and twenty-first day. Transmission electronic microscopy showed alterations in the morphologic structures. CONCLUSION: It concluded that both medicaments kill Enterococcus faecalis, with an exposure time of 7 to 14 days, where no cell viability is seen after this period due to irreversible alterations in bacterial cell morphology.
Calcium hydroxide; Enterococcus faecalis; iodoform
