An evaluation of sealing ability of calcium hydroxide sealers

Abstract

Solid core filling material such as gutta-percha has been used to fill the root canal in conjunction with a sealer to prevent apical leakage. The purpose of this study was to compare apical seal of five different root canal sealers. Sixty roots of maxillary central incisors were cleansed and shaped and randomly assigned to one of six groups of ten roots each. The root canals were obturated with gutta-percha and one of the sealers by the lateral-vertical condensation technique. Groups I, II, III, IV, and V consisted of roots in which the canal was filled with gutta-percha along with either Roth's sealer, AH26, Sealapex, CRCS, or Nogenol sealer, respectively. Group VI was filled with gutta-percha and without sealer to serve as a control. The access opening was filled with amalgam. Each tooth was then placed in a capped vial containing 2 × 2 inch gauze pads saturated with distilled water, and the sealer was allowed to set at 37° C in the humidor for 48 hours. The roots, except for the apical 2 mm, were coated with two layers of nail polish. The roots were stained with india ink, decalcified, dehydrated, and then placed in methylsalicylate to make them transparent. The leakage was measured with a filar micrometer eyepiece under a dissecting microscope. The mean apical leakage of six groups was as follows: I = 0.45 mm, II = 0.277 mm, III = 0.343 mm, IV = 0.263 mm, V = 0.336 mm, and VI = 2.310 mm. Results showed no significant difference in the apical seal produced by gutta-percha and the tested root canal sealers. Canals that were obturated with gutta-percha and without sealer showed significantly greater apical leakage ( P < 0.01).