Non-Thermal Atmospheric Plasma for Endodontic Treatment

Gas discharge plasma is being explored nowadays for its application as an alternative to the conventional sterilization and disinfection techniques in medical sciences. We have developed the non-thermal atmospheric plasma torch to study the effect of plasma treatment on the growth rate of E. faecalis culture and biofilms. E. faecalis treated with plasma was then compared with helium gas exposed and chlorohexidine treated cultures and biofilms. All the results are analysed for significance (P < 0.001) using ANOVA and TUCKEY’S test. Optical emission spectroscopy technique has been employed in. situ to identify the species interacting with the samples. It is found that atmospheric non-thermal plasma proves to be a promising alternative to traditional disinfectants for disinfection during endodontic treatment.