An in vitro comparison of the single cone and lateral condensation techniques using 'friction-fitted' and 'solvent dip-fitted' primary gutta-percha cones.

Abstract

Extracted teeth, root-filled by single cone and lateral condensation techniques, using friction fitted and solvent (chloroform and eucalyptol) dip-fitted primary gutta-percha cones, were compared with respect to apical sealing as measured by length of dye penetration and frequency of no dye penetration. Overall, the single cone techniques were significantly more effective than lateral condensation techniques regarding length of dye penetration. The single cone techniques were not significantly different from the lateral condensation technique which employed chloroform dip-fitted primary gutta-percha cones regarding length of dye penetration. The single cone and lateral condensation techniques which utilized chloroform dip-fitted cones ranked first and second with respect to frequency of no dye penetration.