Calcium hydroxide retention in wide root canals with flaring apices

Calcium hydroxide (CH) is used to induce apexification in immature. pulples s teeth with wide root canals and flaring apices. Three placement methods o f CH were compared in vitro, for their ability to enhance CH retention in t he canal. Barium sulfate (BS), added as radiopacifier, was studied for its effects on the radiographic follow up of CH retention, as well as on the ab ility to detect voids in the CH. Calcium hydroxide filled teeth were kept i n phosphate buffered saline-containing tubes in a shaker water bath. Radiog raphs were taken weekly to follow the retention or loss of the material; th ey were scanned and stored as digitized images. Quantitative evaluations we re done on these images, using a computerized gray scale. Condensed CH was better retained in root canals than either lentulo-placed paste or commerci al injected paste. Barium sulfate in the CH paste enabled better detection of voids in the paste filling the canal, however it obscured the disappeara nce of CH from the canal, due to a residual radiopacity effect. The results supported (a) condensation of calcium hydroxide as a preferred method that improves its retention in nide root canals, and (b) discontinuing the use of barium sulfate as a radiopacifier in apexification procedures.