Background: Bacteria and their products play the main role in the initiation and exacerbation of pulp and periapical diseases. Previous authors established that mechanical instrumentation alone is inefficient and supporting actions of disinfectants such as NaOCl are still necessary. Hence; the present study was conducted for evaluating and comparing two different root canal irrigating solutions during root canal therapy. Materials & methods: A total of 40 freshly extracted mandibular first premolar were obtained and were broadly divided into two study groups with 20 specimens in each group; Group A- Root canals irrigated using 2.5% NaOCl for 1 min only, and Group B- Root canals irrigated with 2% CHX gluconate for 1 min followed by 3 ml of 2.5% NaOCl solution. Each tooth was accessed coronally and all the teeth were decoronated at the cementoenamel junction. Teeth were instrumented and at every change of instrument, the canals were irrigated with 2 ml of 2.5% NaOCl solutions during procedure. Canals were dried with paper points after which the roots were split longitudinally and examined. The cleaning ability of irrigating solutions was evaluated using the smear layer score system. All the results were recorded in Microsoft excel sheet and were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Mean smear layer score among specimens of group A and group B was 4.5 and 4.2 respectively. Non-significant results were obtained while comparing the mean smear layer score. Conclusion: Both the irrigating solutions are equally effective in removing smear layer. Key words: Irrigation solution, Root canal