Sealing Ability of Resilon and MTA as Root-end Filling Materials: A Bacterial and Dye Leakage Study

Endodontic surgery is a valuable option for maintaining patient''s natural dentition when previous orthograde endodontic treatments fail to succeed. Proper root-end preparation and placement of a retro-filling material are recommended for successful endodontic surgery. The objective of this experimental study was to compare sealing ability of Resilon/Epiphany system, as a potential root-end filling material, with ProRoot MTA using both dye and bacterial leakage models. Ninety two single-rooted extracted human teeth were decoronated and prepared endodontically. Specimens were randomly divided into four experimental groups (n=20) and four control groups (n=3). After removal of apical 3 mm and root-end cavity preparation, MTA, or Resilon were used to fill root end cavities. For bacterial leakage, specimens (20 for each experimental group, 3 negative, and 3 positive controls) were subjected to E. faecalis over a 70-day period. Methylene blue was used for dye leakage (the same in number as before). Using stereomicroscope (40× mag.) complete dye leakage was assessed after 72 h. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was performed for bacterial leakage. The data was analyzed using t-test and Chi-square analysis (α=0.05). All of the positive controls and none of negative controls revealed leakage. Result of log rank test showed no significant difference between MTA and Resilon in time of bacterial leakage at the end of the 70 days (P>0.05) There was also no statistical difference in complete dye leakage for both groups (P>0.05). Leakage occurred in both MTA and Resilon as root-end filling material but the difference was not statistically significant. Resilon might be noticed as a potential root-end filling material if good isolation is attainable.