Abstract
Objectives: To evaluate and compare glycine's decontamination efficiency and biocompatibility with sodium bicarbonate airprophy agent. Materials and methods: Forty-two sites on round titanium discs were subjected to sandblasting and a double acid etching. Discs were then divided into group 1 and group 2 after applying artificial calculus. They were treated using sodium bicarbonate or glycine airprophy agents. A profilometer was used to analyze the roughness, and SEM was used to assess the morphology. Cytotoxicity to human gingival fibroblasts of five treated discs from each group was evaluated by MTT assay. Results: After decontamination, the median Ra values of Group 1 and Group 2 discs were 1.51 μm and 1.43 μm respectively, before the treatment, and after the treatment, they were 1.96 μm and 1.83 μm respectively. Similarly, the median Rz values increased from 9.27 μm and 9.30 μm before treatment to 13.18 μm and 13.26 μm after treatment in groups 1 and 2, respectively. However comparison between the groups using the Mann-Whitney U test revealed no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). The MTT assay showed that there was 80% cell viability following exposure to sodium bicarbonate and glycine, indicating acceptable cytocompatibility under the conditions of the study. Conclusion: Glycine and sodium bicarbonate are equally effective in debriding artificial calculus and are non-toxic.