Comparison of Apical Seal of Three Root Canal Sealers (AH26, AHPlus and Tubliseal) in Root Canal Obturated by Lateral Condensation Technique

A good apical seal plays a critical role in the success of endodontic treatment. The most common cause of treatment failure has been the lack of root apical seal. The aim of this study was to compare the apical seal of three root canal sealers including AH26، AH Plus and Tubliseal together and with positive and negative groups، using a dye penetration test. One hundred and ten humon upper central teeth were used in this study. Teeth were kept in 10% formalin solution and then were maintained for three days in 5. 25% NaOCl. The teeth were randomly divided into three experimental groups (N=30) and two negative and positive control groups. After debridement of the external surfaces the crowns were cut at the CEJ، and were instrumented by stepback technique and obturated using lateral condensation technique with gutta-percha and either AH26، AH Plus or Tubliseal. In positive control group، after preparation، the canals were filled with gutta-percha without sealer، and in negative control group، the canals were prepared but not filled. Two mm of coronal canals were filled with amalgam and negative control group were coated with two layers of nail polish and one layer of sticky wax، and next، were incubated for 72 hours after that، the surface of the other teeth except 2mm in apical area was coated with nail polish and wax. Finally then the teeth were centrifuged with India Ink and kept in ink for 72 hours. After longitudinally sectioning، the amount of dye penetration was measured under the stereomicroscope by three individuals who were blind to the groups. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and post hoc Tukey HSD test، through SPSS 15 software. Higher level of dye penetration was observed in group B (Tubliseal) which was significantly greater than the rate in groups A (AH26) and C (AHPlus)، while the difference observed between groups A and C was not statistically significant. The results of this study showed that although AHPlus is better than AH26، there was no statistically significant difference in apical seal of AH26 and AH Plus sealers: However، the leakage of them was significantly less than that of Tubliseal sealer.