The Effects of Eugenol Lubricate on the Displacement of Prosystem GT Obturator

Objectives: this study was to determine the effects of eugenol lubrication on the stripping of gutta percha from its core carrier when obturating root canals with the ProsystemGT obturator. Method: 40 commercially available transparent plastic cubes with preformed canals were divided into 8 groups of equal size. All canals were filed according to manufacture’s directions with the ProsystemGT file at apical sizes of 30, 35, 40, and 45. All canals were obturated with the ProsystemGT obturator with or without eugenol lubricant. By taking advantage of the transparent nature of the plastic cube, stripping of gutta percha from 4 sides of the carriers was evaluated with a dissecting microscope using 16x magnification. Between and within group comparisons of the percent of total possible surfaces exhibiting stripping was analyzed using ANOVA with multiple pair-wise comparisons. Results: results show that the circumferential gutta percha stripping off the carrier ranged from 15% to 79%. There was gutta percha stripping in every ProsystemGT obturation although the use of lubricant reduced stripping up to 51% when compared to the non-lubricant groups. There was no statistical difference within or between groups, e.g., #30 lubricated vs. #35 lubricated or #30 lubricated vs. #30 non-lubricated, etc. However, there was statistical significance (p <.05) between the combined lubricant groups vs. the combined non-lubricant groups. Conclusions: proper use of root canal sealer will significantly decrease gutta percha stripping from the Prosystem GT obturator carrier.