Efficacy Of Various Instrumentation Techniques For Removing Filling Material During Root Canal Retreatment Using Cone Bean Computed Tomography –An In-Vitro Study

Aim: To compare the efficacy of various instrumentation techniques for removing obturating material from root canals using Cone Bean Computed Tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: Thirty extracted human premolar teeth, each with a single canal were selected. The root canals were prepared upto F4 ProTaper file and obturated with corresponding gutta percha cone. Teeth were divided into three groups according to the technique used for removing the obturating material: group I – Reciproc R50 instrument; group II – Gates–Glidden burs and hand files up to size 50; group III – Mtwo files upto size 50, 0.04 taper. The amount of remaining filling materials after the retreatment procedures was assessed by CBCT. The data was statistically analysed by One way Anova test. Results: Group I (reciprocating technique with the Reciproc R50 instrument) left less remaining material compared with group II (hand files) and group III (rotary technique with Mtwo R instruments) Conclusion: The reciproc file was most effective in removing the gutta-percha from the root canal.