| Background: It is necessary apical plug material to exhibit proper adaptation with the root canal walls. Presence
of voids at the interface between the root canal wall and this material result in micro leakage, which might have a
relationship with post treatment disease. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of different mixing
(manual and ultrasonic) and placement (manual and manual in association with indirect ultrasonic) method of Mineral
Trioxide Aggregate (MTA) on the void count and dimension in the apical plug in natural teeth with simulated
open apices.
Material and Methods: Eighty human maxillary central incisors were selected. After simulation of the open apex
model, the teeth were assigned to 4 groups based on the mixing and placement techniques of MTA: group 1, manual
mixing and manual placement; group 2, manual mixing and manual placement in association with indirect ultrasonic;
group 3, ultrasonic mixing and and manual placement; and group 4, ultrasonic mixing and manual placement
in association with indirect ultrasonic. The prepared samples were placed within gypsum sockets in which the
periodontal ligament was reconstructed with polyether impression material. In group 1, after mixing, the material
was condensed with a hand plugger. In group 2, after mixing, the ultrasonic tip was contacted with the hand plugger
for 2 seconds. In groups 3 and 4, mixing was carried out with the ultrasonic tip for 5 seconds and in groups 3 and
4, similar to groups 1 and 2, respectively, the materials were placed as apical plugs, measuring 3 mm in length.
A wet cotton pellet was placed at canal orifices and dressed with Cavit. After one week, the cone beam computed
tomography (CBCT) technique was used to count the number of voids between the material and root canal walls.
The void dimensions were determined using the following scoring system: score 1, absence of voids; score 2, the
void size less than half of the dimensions of the evaluated cross-section; score 3, the void size larger than half of the
dimensions of the evaluated cross-section. Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests were used for statistical analyses.
Statistical significance was set at P<0.05.
doi:10.4317/jced.53410
http://dx.doi.org/10.4317/jced.53410
Article Number: 53410 http://www.medicinaoral.com/odo/indice.htm
© Medicina Oral S. L. C.I.F. B 96689336 - eISSN: 1989-5488
eMail: jced@jced.es
Indexed in:
Pubmed
Pubmed Central® (PMC)
Scopus
DOI® System
Ghasemi N, Janani M, Razi T, Atharmoghaddam F. Effect of different
mixing and placement methods on the quality of MTA apical plug in simulated
apexification model. J Clin Exp Dent. 2017;9(3):e351-5.
http://www.medicinaoral.com/odo/volumenes/v9i3/jcedv9i3p351.pdf
J Clin Exp Dent. 2017;9(3):e351-5. Quality of MTA apical plug with different mixing and placement methods
e352
Introduction
MTA has several uses in endodontics, including its use as an apical plug in the apexification procedure of immature permanent teeth (1). A material used as an apical plug should be able to provide a proper seal in addition to properties such as setting in the presence of blood and moisture, tissue tolerance and antimicrobial activity (2,3). In other words, it is necessary for such a material to exhibit proper adaptation with the root canal walls in order to prevent leakage of bacteria and their products into the periapical tissues (4). Presence of voids at the interface between the root canal wall and the material used to create an apical seal results in the entrapment of toxins and microorganisms, which might have a relationship with post treatment disease (5,6).
MTA is a technique-sensitive material and requires careful delivery to create a proper seal (7). Previous studies in relation to the effect of ultrasonic placement on the quality of MTA plug showed that the effect of ultrasonic technique on improving bacterial seal was not significant; however, it resulted in a denser obturation from a radiographic point of view due to an increase in the effective flow of MTA (8). In addition, indirect activation with an ultrasonic tip in association with manual condensation resulted in a denser material compared to manual condensation alone (9). However, another study showed that manual condensation resulted in better adaptation and less porosity compared to direct ultrasonic technique (10).
Powder-to-liquid ratio and porosity might affect the mechanical properties of dental cements. Therefore, the mixing and placement variables are key factors that affect the performance of dental materials (11,12). Evaluation of previous investigations regarding the effect of mixing technique on various properties of MTA showed that ultrasonic mixing increases its flow and solubility and decreases its setting and working times (13-15).
Identification of voids is important clinically and evaluation of voids between the root canal wall and the material is an acceptable technique for the evaluation of the obturation quality (5,16). Radiography is one of the techniques used for such evaluation; however, analog and digital radiographic techniques have limitations because they yield two-dimensional images of three-dimensional structures, resulting in the superimposition of anatomic structures. In recent years, CBCT technique has been
Results: The maximum (13) and minimum (3) number of voids were detected in groups 2 and 3, respectively. There were no significant differences between groups 1 and 3 in the number of voids (p>0.05). Evaluation of void dimensions showed no score 3 in any of the study groups and the dimensions of all the voids conformed to score 2.
Conclusions: Under the limitations of the present study, use of ultrasonic mixing and manual placement techniques resulted in a decrease in the number of voids in the apical plug. |