A COMPARISON OF THE APICAL SEAL PRODUCED BY EASY FILLING SYSTEM AND QUICK OBTURATION SYSTEM

Easy Filling 및 Quick Obturation System을 이용한 열연화 충전법의 치근단 밀폐도 평가

The aim of this study was to compare the apical sealing ability of a new thermoplasticized gutta-percha filling technique, the Easy Filling and the Quick Obturation system with lateral condensation technique and Thermafil system to evaluate their clinical acceptabilities. Fifty-two extracted single-rooted teeth were instrumented to #35 using the .04 taper ProFile system. Four groups of 12 teeth were obturated by lateral condensation technique. Thermafil system and two new thermoplasticized gutta-percha techniques, the Easy Filling system and Quick Obturation system (Meta Dental co. Ltd. Korea), respectively. Four teeth served as controls. After the teeth were immersed in 2% methylene blue dye for 48 hours, they were resected horizontally at 1mm to 5mm level from the anatomical apex using a low-speed microtome. Each section was examined under a stereomicroscope at ${\times40}$ magnification and photographed. After each image was scanned, the leakage area was measured at each level using Brain 3 (Nosdia Tech., Korea) software. Leakage ratio was calculated for each group and was analyzed statistically to come up with the following results: 1. At 1mm level, the Quick Obturation system had the largest amount of apical leakage and it was statistically significant when compared with the lateral condensation group and the Thermafil group (p<0.05). 2. At 2mm and 3mm level, there were no significant difference of apical leakage among all four groups (p>0.05), and from 4mm level, no apical dye penetration was observed in all the groups. In conclusion, the apical seal produced by Easy Filling system and the Quick Obturation system was comparable to lateral condensation technique and Thermafil system except for the 1mm level. More improvement of the apical seal can be expected as the operator becomes skillful with the new techniques.