The pH and surface tension relationship of various Endodontic Irrigants

Abstract

Abstract
The physicochemical properties of an endodontic irrigant influences the outcome of root
canal treatment. These properties include mainly its composition, concentration, viscosity,
surface tension and various factors like surface texture, temperature, pressure, pH, addition
of chemical products etc. This article is an attempt to draw a relation between pH and
surface tension which enables clinicians to select appropriate irrigants and optimize their
effectiveness in disinfection, debris removal, and tissue compatibility during root canal
treatment. For this review article, Pubmed, Google scholar and Research gate search
engines are used. Keywords like pH, surface tension, endodontic irrigants etc. are used to
find the articles. Inclusion criteria is based only on those articles (clinical research, basic
research and review) selected which gives direct or indirect relation between pH and
surface tension and rest of the articles are excluded which do not end on key points. Most
of the articles concluded that acidic pH correlates with lower surface tension and alkaline
pH correlates with higher surface tension but a concrete conclusion is still awaited and
needs further researches and trials in this field.
Keywords: pH, surface tension, endodontic irrigants.