Effect of nonthermal atmospheric plasma on the push-out bond strength of epoxy resin-based and bioceramic root canal sealers: An in vitro study

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nonthermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) on the bond strength of epoxy resin-based and bioceramic root canal sealers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Freshly extracted forty (n = 40) single-rooted mandibular premolar teeth were divided into four groups (n = 10) based on the sealer used and NTAP application – Group 1: Epoxy resin-based sealer (AH Plus) without NTAP application, Group 2: Epoxy resin-based sealer (AH Plus) with NTAP application for 30 s, Group 3: Bioceramic sealer (BioRoot RCS) without NTAP application, and Group 4: Bioceramic sealer (BioRoot RCS) with NTAP application for 30 s. After NTAP application in Groups 2 and 4, all the samples were obturated using sealers according to their grouping protocols. Two-millimeter slices were obtained from each sample using hard tissue microtome, which were subjected to push-out bond strength (PBS) under the universal testing machine. Data were subjected to statistical analysis using one-way analysis of variance followed by the Post hoc tukey test. The level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: The PBS values were observed to be significantly higher in bioceramic sealer with NTAP application (Group 4) followed by epoxy resin-based sealer with NTAP application (Group 2). CONCLUSION: NTAP application enhanced the PBS of bioceramic (BioRoot RCS) and epoxy resin-based (AH Plus) sealers compared to their control groups.