Effect of Surfactants on the Efficacy of Root Canal Irrigants: A Review.

The mechanical debridement of the root canal system fails to completely remove debris from the root canal walls. So, one or more irrigants must be used for complete disinfection of the root canal system (RCS). One possible way to improve the bactericidal efficacy of the disinfecting solutions is to incorporate different detergents as surface active agents to help reduce the surface tension and increase the wettability of the solutions. Surfactants have been added to various root canal irrigation solutions. The purpose of this paper is to review the effects of adding surfactants to established root canal irrigants and new surfactant-containing root canal irrigants.