Evaluation of sealing abilitiy of mineral trioxide aggregate mixed with propylene glycol as a root canal sealer: A in vitro study

BACKGROUND: Sealing ability is one of the most important features of endodontic sealers. The main goal of the present study was to compare sealing ability of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA)-propylene glycol (PG) with two commonly used resin-based and MTA-based sealers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In This in vitro study Seventy extracted single-root teeth were used. Canal preparation was carried out using hand and RaCe rotary files. Ten teeth were used as control. The root canals in positive and negative control groups were left empty. Remaining 60 teeth were randomly divided into following four groups (n = 15): In Group 1, the canals were dried using paper cones and obturated using MTA-PG sealer. In Group 2, saline was removed from canal using a syring, but paper cones were not used. Obturation was done using MTA-PG sealer. In Groups 3 and 4, the canals were dried using paper cones and obturated with AH26 and MTA Fillapex, respectively. Two-chamber method was used to evaluate bacterial leakage using Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212). Turbidity of the lower chambers was checked every day during 90 days. Chi-square, Kaplan–Meier analysis, and logrank tests were used to compare groups regarding leaked samples at the end of the study. The level of significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS: There was no significant difference among groups regarding rate of leakage throughout the study. However, at the end of the study, the groups were statistically different regarding leaked samples (P = 0.034). MTA Fillapex and MTA-PG in dry canal showed the most and least leaked samples at the end of the study, respectively (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: MTA mixed with PG has superior sealing ability than MTA Fillapex.