Microbial Leakage and Apical Inflammatory Response in Dog’s Teeth after Root Canal Filling with Different Sealers, Post Space Preparation and Exposure to the Oral Environment

Coronal leakage is an important factor affecting the outcome of endodontic therapy. This study evaluated the microbial leakage (ML) and the apical inflammatory response (AIR) in dog's teeth after root canal filling with three endodontic sealers, post preparation and exposure to the oral environment, testing the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between these two histological parameters (ML and AIR). Sixty-four root canals of 8 mongrel dogs were cleaned, shaped and randomly distributed into groups according to the sealer to be used: Sealer 26 (n=18); AH Plus (n=18); RoekoSeal (n=19); no sealer - control group (n=9). Root canals were filled by the lateral condensation technique. Post space preparation left 4 mm of filling material in the apical root third, and specimens were exposed to the oral environment for 90 days. The dogs were killed and jaw blocks were histologically processed using Brown & Brenn and HE staining techniques. ML and AIR were scored from 1 to 4. Results were analyzed statistically using ANOVA, Duncan's post-hoc test and Spearman's correlation. ML and AIR score means were: Sealer 26 - 2.44+/-0.98 and 2.50+/-0.70; AH Plus - 2.50+/-0.78 and 2.22+/-0.54; RoekoSeal - 1.84+/-0.95 and 2.63+/-0.83; Control - 2.56+/-1.23 and 3.11+/-0.60. Statistically significant differences in AIR scores were found between the AH Plus and control groups (p<0.05). Although RoekoSeal had the lowest ML means, and AH Plus, the lowest AIR means after 90-day exposure to the oral environment, no statistically significant differences were found between the three sealers under study, and no correlation was found between ML and AIR.