CYTOTOXICITY OF 4 ROOT END FILLING MATERIALS

Leakage and scanning electron microscopic studies have shown that a mi neral trioxide aggregate (MTA) used as root end filling material permi ts significantly less leakage and has better adaptation than other com monly used root end filling materials, Because these materials are in contact with the periradicular tissues, their cytotoxicity should be e valuated before in vivo tests, Using the agar overlay and radiochromiu m methods, the cytotoxicity of amalgam, Super EBA, IRM, and the MTA wa s evaluated, Statistical analysis of the data from the agar overlay te chnique shows that freshly mixed and set amalgam were significantly le ss toxic than the rest of tested materials (p < 0.00005), Fresh and se t MTA ranked second when tested for cytotoxicity with this technique, Similar statistical tests revealed a significant statistical differenc e between the toxicity of freshly mixed and set materials after 24 h o f incubation with radiochromium-labeled mouse L929 cells, The degree o f cytotoxicity of fresh and set materials was MTA least toxic followed by amalgam, Super EBA, and IRM, Based on the results of the cell cult ure methods used in this study it appears that MTA is a potential root end filling material and warrants further in vivo evaluations.