IN VITRO EVALUATION OF FRACTURE RESISTANCE OF ENDODONTICALLY TREATED TEETH WITH THE USE OF DIFFERENT ROOT CANAL SEALERS

After endodontic treatment, teeth are structurally different from untreated vital teeth, so these teeth require specialized treatment. The toughness of an endodontically treated tooth is associated to the tooth structure left. In vertical root fracture, resection of the affected root or extraction of the tooth is mandatory. Hence, this is a serious concern as there is an unfavorable prognosis leading to endodontic failure. One major cause for tooth fracture is found to be endodontic treatment in many in vivo studies. Vital teeth are less prone to fracture than nonvital teeth. It is a well-known fact that loss of structural integrity associated with the access preparation results in increased cuspal deflection during function leading to a higher occurrence of fractures. It is difficult to establish whether the occurrence of fractures depends on change in dentin structure or missing tooth structure. If endodontically treated teeth are not restored immediately, there is bacterial contamination and coronal microleakage, and this can lead to retreatment or endodontic failure. Hence, bonded restorations must be used to avoid microleakage. Based on above findings the present study was planned to evaluate the In Vitro Evaluation of Fracture Resistance of Endodontically Treated Teeth with the Use of Different Root Canal Sealers. The present study was planned in Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Buddha Institute of Dental Science and Hospital, Patna, Bihar, India. For the in vitro study, 30 extracted maxillary central incisors from patients in the age group 30-55 years were obtained. After extraction, soft tissue and calculus were mechanically removed and teeth were stored in 5% sodium hypochlorite solution for 24 h to remove any remaining soft tissue. Certain teeth that had fracture lines, calcifications, surface irregularities were discarded, and a total of 20 teeth samples were obtained for the study. Although the sample size was small, it was sufficient to achieve a statistical difference. The teeth were sectioned at the cementoenamel junction using a diamond disc and water spray The sectioned teeth were taken, and a working length for each root was then established 1 mm short of the apical foramen using a No. 20 K-file. Further, the roots were divided randomly into four groups. The data generated from present study concludes that increased the fracture toughness of the instrumented roots after obturation. Therefore the ability of these materials i.e., Resilon and Epiphany sealer, Gutta-percha and AH plus sealer, guttapercha and Endomethasone sealer to reinforce the Endodontically treated teeth looks very promising but further long-term clinical studies are necessary to collect evidence based data thus to be able to support the confident use of these materials in day to day practice. Keywords: Fracture resistance, root canal sealers, Resilon, Epiphany, AH Plus Sealer, Endomethasone sealer, etc.