Effects of ultrasonic root-end cavity preparation with different surgical-tips and at different power-settings on glucose-leakage of root-end filling material

AIM: The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effects of different ultrasonic surgical-tips and power-settings on micro-leakage of root-end filling material. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The root canals were instrumented using rotary-files and were filled with tapered gutta-percha and root canal sealer using a single-cone technique. The apical 3 mm of each root was resected and the roots were divided into six experimental groups; negative and positive control groups. Root-end cavities were prepared with diamond-coated, zirconum-nitride-coated and stainless-steel ultrasonic retro-tips at half-power and high-power settings. The time required to prepare the root-end cavities for each group was recorded. Root-end cavities were filled with Super-EBA. Leakage values of all samples evaluated with glucose penetration method on 7, 14, 21 and 28(th) days. The results were statistically analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis and Hollander-Wolfe tests. RESULTS: The mean time required to prepare retro cavities using diamond-coated surgical tip at high-power setting was significantly less than other groups (P < 0.01). There were no statistically significant differences in the glucose penetration between the groups at first and second weeks (P > 0.01). Diamond-coated surgical tip showed the least leakage at high-power setting at 3(rd) and 4(th) weeks (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Under the conditions of this study, cavity preparation time was the shortest and the leakage of the root-end filling was the least when diamond-coated retro-tip used at high-power setting.