An Oxymetazoline-based Nasal Solution Removes Bacteria-Blood Debris on Dental Surfaces and Has Antimicrobial Activity toward Streptococcus mutans Data Sharing Archive

Data used in the manuscript An Oxymetazoline-based Nasal Solution Removes Bacteria-Blood Debris on Dental Surfaces and Has Antimicrobial Activity toward Streptococcus mutans
Background: An over-the-counter vasoconstrictive nasal solution with oxymetazoline (NS-OXY, 0.05%) has potential to be used as a dental pulpal hemostatic medicament. A molecular engineering approach examined NS-OXY and its molecular constituent’s an-timicrobial and blood biomass removal efficacy. Methods: An ex vivo cavity model was developed where standardized prepared teeth were exposed overnight to a model dentinal caries pathogen, S. mutans, and then exposed to Sheep’s blood for 10 minutes, which sim-ulated a pulpal exposure. Cavity preparations were rinsed with OXY (0.05%), ben-zalkonium chloride (BKC-0.025%), NS-OXY (with OXY-0.05% and BKC), ferric sulfate (20%;ViscoStat, FS), and distilled water (DI). For examining the bactericidal effect of NS-OXY, a disc diffusion antimicrobial assay was used where S. mutans was grown (20-hrs) on brain-heart infusion (BHI) w/0.5% glucose agar plates and exposed to the treatment groups. Results: NS-OXY treated samples had a lower residual bacterial or blood biomass than FS (P=.003). The diffusion test showed that NS-OXY, BKC, and FS had zones of inhibition greater than 10 mm, with NS-OXY having higher activity against S. mutans than FS (P=.0002) but lower than BKC (P=0.0082). Conclusions: NS-OXY may con-sidered as a dental hemostatic agent after traumatic and carious pulpal exposure owing to NS-OXY’s antimicrobial and vasoconstrictive properties.