Evaluation of the Apical Sealability of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate and Portland Cement as Root Canal Filling Cements: An in Vitro Study

One of the principle purposes of root canal obturation is to obtain hermetic sealing of the root canal system. According to the development of technology, many materials are now used in root canal filling. An in vitro dye leakage study was performed to evaluate the apical sealability of White-colored Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (WMTA) and Gray-colored Portland Cement (GPC) when used alone or as a sealer with gutta-percha points in root canal filling. Seventy-five single-rooted extracted human teeth were used in this study. After cleaning and shaping, the teeth were randomly divided into five equal groups of 15 teeth each based on the root canal filling material used; Group 1, (WMTA) alone; Group 2, (GPC) alone; Group 3, (Gutta-percha points + WMTA); Group 4, (Gutta-percha points + GPC); Group 5, (Gutta-percha points + AH26). Methylene blue was used to determine the apical leakage. After sectioning the teeth longitudinally, linear dye penetration was measured with a caliper under the stereomicroscope. Data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and one-way ANOVA tests with (P ≤ 0.05) as the level of significance. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences among the materials of five groups. (WMTA) alone, (Gutta-percha points + WMTA), (GPC) alone and (Gutta-percha points + GPC) may be used in the root canal filling.