Evaluation of the Apical Sealability of iFill System used in Root Canal Thermal Filling (An In Vitro Study)

Abstract

Background and Aim: The hermetic apical seal is considered one of principle purposes in root canal system filling. According to the development of technology, many techniques are now used in root canal filling. Therefore, the aim of this in vitro study was to compare and evaluate the apical sealability of thermal iFill system, cold lateral condensation technique, and thermal vertical condensation technique using the apical dye penetration method to investigate which of these techniques has the best apical sealability.

Materials and Methods: The sample of study consisted of 30 recently extracted, single-canal, permanent human teeth, The root canals were prepared using rotary Protaper system, then the sample was randomly divided into three equal groups of 10 teeth each, according to the filling technique used: [Group1: Thermal iFill System, Group2: Cold Lateral Condensation Technique, Group3: Thermal Vertical Condensation Technique]. The apical sealability was evaluated by immersion of teeth roots in 2% methylene blue dye (100% humidity at 37°C) for 24 hours, then the teeth were sectioned longitudinally in a buccolingual direction. The extent of linear dye penetration at the (tooth-material) interface was examined by a stereomicroscope (20X magnification). Data were subjected to Kruskal-Wallis and one-way ANOVA statistical tests and with (P-value ≤ 0.05) as the level of significance.

Results: The results showed no statistically significant differences in the apical sealability among the thermal iFill system, cold lateral condensation technique, and thermal vertical condensation technique using the apical dye penetration method.

Conclusions: Thermal iFill system can be used in the root canal filling, it proved its ability on achieving of  a hermetic apical seal of root canals.