the efficacy of passive ultrasonic activation of organic solvents on dissolving two root canal sealers

introduction: the aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the dissolving efficacy of eucalyptol and orange oil solvents associated with passive ultrasonic activation (pua) in zinc oxide-eugenol (zoe) based and epoxy resin-based root canal sealers. methods and materials: seventy samples of each sealer were prepared and then randomized according to the solvent and the time of the ultrasonic activation ( n =5). the mean amount of weight loss of sealers was calculated in percentages and was analyzed by using the kruskal-wallis and bonferroni post-hoc tests. results: the greatest values of weight loss were obtained with the zoe sealer groups ( p <0.05), regardless of the solvent that was used. an application of pua for 3 min, with a renewal of orange oil solvent each min, showed the greatest percentage of weight loss in zoe sealer compared to the others templates ( p <0.05). neither the solvent nor the different times had any influence on the weight loss of the resin sealer ( p >0.05). conclusion: the application of pua with essential oils can be an effective method in dissolving zoe based sealers.