Objective: To assess the influence of various canal-drying techniques on the push-out bond strength between radicular dentine and both MTA Fillapex and iRoot SP sealers.
Materials and methods: Eighty extracted single-root teeth were instrumented with ProTaper Universal rotary instruments to a size F4. The teeth were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups as follows: group 1, excess fluid in the canals was removed using a Luer vacuum adapter; group 2, the canals were dried with a single paper point; group 3, the canals were dried with 3-5 paper points, and group 4, the canals were rinsed with 95% ethanol and then dried with 3-5 paper points. In each group, the specimens were subgrouped according to root canal sealer into either subgroup A (MTA Fillapex) or subgroup B (iRoot SP sealer). Horizontal sections (thickness 1 ± 0.1 mm) were obtained from each specimen and a push-out test was performed using a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min on root slices. Statistical analysis was done using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn's test for pair-wise comparisons. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Canals dried with only 1 paper point and obturated with the iRoot SP sealer (subgroup 2B) showed significantly higher bond strengths to the root canal wall compared to all other subgroups (p < 0.05), except for subgroup 1B (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: The canal-drying technique influenced the adhesive bond strength between calcium silicate-based root canal sealers and the root canal wall.
© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.