ENDODONTIC RETREATMENT WITH HALOTHANE VERSUS CHLOROFORM SOLVENT

Chloroform has been the most widely used solvent in endodontics, but d ue to concerns about its safety, alternatives have been sought. The pu rpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of gutta-percha r emoval and time of retreatment between halothane and chloroform used a s solvents. Thirty mandibular premolars were prepared, obturated, and stored in a humidor for 14 months, after which they were randomly divi ded into two groups for retreatment. The teeth were retreated using ei ther halothane or chloroform as the solvent. The time of retreatment w as measured to the nearest minute. Retreatment was deemed complete whe n there was no evidence of gutta-percha or sealer on the files or pape r points, Teeth were split longitudinally; and photographed. The resul ting slides were projected, the canals traced, and the areas of the ca nal, gutta-percha, and sealer were measured using a sonic digitizer. T he results were analyzed statistically by t test. The results showed n o significant difference in gutta-percha removal between the two group s. The chloroform group took significantly less time to retreat than h alothane (7.7 min. versus 10.8 min, respectively).