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Coronal sealing ability of a new root canal filling material.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To date, many different materials have been proposed for root canal fillings, but gutta-percha (used with various types of sealers) has remained the material of choice for over a century. A new root canal obturation system, the Epiphany endodontic obturation system, has been developed to replace gutta-percha and traditional sealers for root canal obturation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the coronal sealing ability of the new endodontic obturation system.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Seventy-two maxillary and mandibular single-rooted human teeth extracted for periodontal reasons were used. The root canals were instrumented using the step-back technique and were irrigated with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite. The smear layer was removed by washing in 10 mL of 17% ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA). The specimens were randomly divided into 3 groups (group 1 to be filled with gutta-percha and AH 26 sealer, group 2 with gutta-percha and AH plus sealer, and group 3 with Epiphany self-etch sealer and Resilon obturating material) and obturated by lateral condensation. Teeth were centrifuged at 30 g for 5 minutes in 2% methylene blue dye solution to allow evaluation of any coronal leakage. The tooth roots were longitudinally grooved with a diamond disk and split with a chisel. Dye penetration was measured from the coronal to the apical part of the root canal using a stereomicroscope with ocular micrometer, and the mean leakage value for each group was calculated and recorded.


RESULTS
The 6 positive control specimens had total dye penetration of the root canal system, whereas the 6 negative control teeth had no dye penetration into the roots. All of the experimental groups demonstrated some degree of coronal leakage. Coronal leakage was greatest in the teeth filled with gutta-percha and AH 26 sealer and least in teeth treated with Epiphany sealer and Resilon core material. These differences in coronal leakage were statistically significant (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSION
All of the root canal filling materials tested in this evaluation yielded a satisfactory seal; however, the Epiphany root canal filling system exhibited the least coronal leakage.