An in vitro comparative evaluation of depth of tubular penetration of three resin-based root canal sealers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the depth of penetration of three resin-based root canal sealers into the dentinal tubules at the cervical, middle and apical third of the root canal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Root canals of 32 extracted human mandibular premolar teeth were prepared and obturated using EndoREZ + resin-coated gutta-percha points (group A), Epiphany + Resilon points (group B), or AH Plus + gutta-percha (group C). The teeth were split longitudinally in bucco-lingual direction and viewed under scanning electron microscope. Photographs were taken at cervical, middle and apical levels for all samples and corresponding measurements were made. The data obtained was statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA and the post-hoc Bonferroni test for inter-group comparison. RESULTS: The results showed that the greatest penetration into dentinal tubules was by EndoREZ sealer (525.2 μ, 327.802 μ and 198.36 μ at cervical, middle and apical third), followed by Epiphany sealer (479.7 μ, 297.212 μ, and 182.22 μ), and the least penetration was seen with AH Plus sealer (224.2 μ, 65.419 μ, and 40.7 μ). The penetration of sealer into the dentinal tubules was statistically significant between each group at each level and between different levels within each group (P<.05). CONCLUSION: The penetration depth of EndoREZ and Epiphany into the dentinal tubules is significantly greater than that of AH Plus.