Novel Urethane-acrylate Root Canal Sealers:Cytotoxicity and Antibacterial Effects

Introduction: We have developed new urethane acrylate-based (UA) root canal sealers with good handling characteristics and bonding strength. To demonstrate low cytotoxicity, we synthesized the novel UA sealer by using polycarbonate (PC) or polybutyleneadipate (PBA) based material. The purposes of this study were to investigate the degree of cytotoxicity and antibacterial effect of UA sealer. Methods: Cytotoxicity and antibacterial ability test: six groups of sealers, PBA-UA, PC-UA, EndoRez, AH-Plus, Apexit Plus and Tubliseal were evaluated by MTT, LDH, Agar-Diffusion, and Direct-Contact test, respectively. Results: PC-UA in aged specimen of MTT test showed the highest cell viability rate, whereas the cell lysis rate is only higher than Apexit group (LDH test). Both PBA-UA and PC-UA sealers presented lower cell lysis rate. UA sealers had antibacterial effect compared to the control group (p<0.05). For the cytotoxicity test, UA sealer in aged specimen had lower value; PC-UA sealer was similar with Apexit in non-setting specimens. Conclusions: It's clear that PC-UA sealer has better biocompatibility than PBA-UA sealer, and PC-UA sealer presented the antibacterial ability. The UA-based sealers have great potential in root canal seal application.