Apical seal and adaptation to dentin of different endodontic sealers

Objectives: Recently, GuttaFlow root canal sealer was promoted for use with single gutta-percha cone without condensation. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the sealing properties and adaptation to canal walls of Guttaflow and compare it to other commonly used endodontic sealers using sinlge cone and lateral condensation techniques. Methods: 80 straight upper anterior teeth were decoronated, standardized to 12mm in length, prepared in a crown-down manner using Gates-Glidden drills and K-files and divided into 4 groups according to the type of sealer used (group 1; GuttaFlow (GF), group 2; TopSeal (TS), group 3; CRCS and group 4; Endofill (EF)). Each group will be further divided into 2 subgroups according to the obturation technique (subgroup A; single cone (SC) and subgroup B; lateral condensation (LC)). After 1 week storage in 95% humidity, 10 specimens from each subgroup were covered by nail polish and sticky was (except for the apical 2mm), suspended in India ink for 4 days, washed and cleaned, decalcified by Nitric acid 5%, dehydrated in a series of alcohol concentrations and immersed in methyl salicylate solution. The transparent roots were then examined under stereomicroscope at 40X magnification and maximum linear dye penetration was recorded. The rest of the specimens from each subgroup were fractured longitudinally into two halves, cleaned, vacuum dried, sputter coated with gold and viewed under the SEM to evaluate the adaptation to canal walls. The results were statistically analyzed (ANOVA, Tukey's post hoc). Results: Groups obturated with Endofill sealer (4A and 4B) showed more leakage and less adaptation compared to other experimental groups. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.01). There was no difference between the two obturation techniques tested in terms of either leakage or adaptation.Conclusions: GuttaFlow (GF) can be used with a single gutta-percha cone to effectively obturate root canals.