A COMPARISON OF SEALER PLACEMENT TECHNIQUES IN CURVED CANALS

Sealer placement techniques have not been examined in teeth with curve d canals prepared with Lightspeed instruments. Three traditional metho ds of placing sealer were studied, using 45 extracted human single-roo ted teeth, divided into 3 groups of 15. Root canal preparations were m ade with Lightspeed nickel-titanium, engine-driven instruments. AH26 s ealer was applied with either K-file, lentulo spiral, or master gutta- percha cone. Radiographs were taken after sealer placement and analyze d for amount of canal sealer fill. The teeth were then obturated with laterally condensed gutta-percha, chemically cleared, photographed, an d analyzed for total canal wall sealer coverage. The results showed a statistically significant difference in canal sealer fill among the th ree groups before obturation, but: there was no statistical difference in canal wall coverage among the three groups after obturation. None of the examined methods exceeded an average of 62.5% wall coverage of sealer after obturation. This suggests that complete wall coverage aft er obturation may not be possible.