APICAL AND CORONAL SEAL OF ROOTS OBTURATED WITH A DENTIN BONDING AGENT AND RESIN

The efficacy of sealing root canal systems with a dentine bonding agen t and resin cement was compared with that of a glass ionomer sealer. S canning electron microscopic examination of the bonding agent-dentine interface was also performed, The root canals of 50 single rooted teet h with mature apices were prepared chemomechanically and the smear lay er removed with 17% REDTA and 5.25% NaOCl. Specimens were divided into two groups of 24 teeth each. One group had the dentine conditioned wi th a 10:3 citric acid-ferric chloride solution and obturated with the dentine bonding agent and resin, radiopaque C & B Metabond, The other group was obturated with the glass ionomer sealer, Ketac-Endo and a si ngle cone of gutta-percha. After immersion in Indian ink for 90 h, the teeth were cleared and the quality of the apical and coronal seal was assessed using India ink dye penetration. There was a significantly b etter seal in both the apical and coronal directions when using the de ntine bonding agent and resin obturation material. Scanning electron m icroscopic examination of the demineralized dentine and the C & B Meta bond interface revealed the presence of the characteristic hybrid laye r along with microtags of resin penetrating deep into the dentine tubu les.