Determination of the Apical Sealing Abilities of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate, Portland Cement, and Bioaggregate After Irrigation with Different Solutions

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to investigate the sealing ability of root-end filling materials such as mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), Portland cement, and bioaggregate (BA) after irrigation with different solutions. MATERIALS AND METHODS We examined 130 human maxillar central teeth. After cutting the teeth at the cementoenamel junction, the root canals were expanded using nickel-titanium rotary instruments. Root canals were filled with AH-plus and gutta-percha. Then, the roots were cut apically, and 3 mm deep retrograde cavities were prepared. The roots were divided 12 experimental groups, consisting 10 teeth each; the positive and negative control groups contained five teeth each. The retrograde cavities were rinsed using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), chlorhexidine (CHX), BioPure(™) mixture of a tetracycline isomer, an acid, and a detergent (MTAD), or distilled water. Next, groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 were sealed with MTA; groups 5, 6, 7, and 8 were sealed with Portland cement; and groups 9, 10, 11, and 12 were sealed with BA. Then, apical microleakage was evaluated by using a computerized fluid filtration method. The results of the leakage test were statistically evaluated by the post-hoc Tukey's test. RESULTS MTA, Portland cement, and BA root-end filling materials showed the least leakage in the CHX and distilled water groups. The highest leakage was observed in the EDTA and MTAD groups. CONCLUSIONS The sealing ability of BA was as good as that of MTA. EDTA and MTAD increased the apical leakage and CHX and distilled water decreased the leakage of the root-end filling materials examined in this study.