COMPARISON OF APICAL LEAKAGE SHOWN BY 4 DIFFERENT DYES WITH 2 EVALUATING METHODS

A study was conducted in vitro to assess and compare the extent of api cal leakage of four dyes by two commonly-used evaluation methods. For the study, 120 single-rooted extracted teeth were prepared by the step -back technique and obturated by lateral condensation with gutta-perch a and Both 801 sealer, After randomly allocating the roots into six gr oups, they were immediately immersed in dye for 72h, using vacuum for 30min at 40 degrees C, Teeth were immersed in Eosin, Methylene Blue, B lack India Ink and Procion Brilliant Blue and cross-sectioned in 0.7 m m thick slices, Those immersed in Black India Ink and Procion Brillian t Blue were also evaluated by the clearing process, Dye penetration wa s assessed using a stereomicroscope. A statistically significant great er dye penetration was measured in the cross-sectioned group compared to the clearing group using the same dyes (Black India Ink, P = 0.020, Procion Brilliant Blue, P = 0.040), In the cross-section groups, no s tatistical significant difference was observed in the amount of leakag e comparing the four dyes. No statistically significant difference was found in the leakage pattern of Procion Brilliant Blue and Black Indi a Ink using the clearing technique (P = 0.797), The evaluating method (cross-sections versus clearing) rather than the dye properties was th e main difference between results. More research is needed to standard ize dye leakage studies.