Effect of Six Obturation Techniques on Filling of Lateral Canals

Lateral canals establish connection between the main root canal and periodontal ligament. The necrotic tissues and bacteria residing in the lateral canals are difficult to remove by mechanical and chemical cleaning and this influences filling the root canal efficiently and the outcome of the root canal therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the filling of artificially prepared lateral canals using six different gutta-percha obturation techniques. For this study, sixty extracted human single rooted teeth were used. Root canals were cleaned and shaped by step back technique. Six lateral canals were prepared in the coronal, middle and apical thirds in each root using #15 engine driven reamer. The teeth were randomly divided into six groups of 10 and obturated by lateral condensation, Microseal (Tycom,USA), JS Quick-Fill (JS Dental Mfg. Inc., USA), Softcore (CMS-Dental Aps., Denmark), System B (SybronEndo, USA) with Obtura II (Obtura Corp.,USA), and Thermafil (Tulsa Dental, USA) techniques using Kerr Pulp Canal sealer (Kerr Manufacturing Co, USA). Radiographs of the obturated canals were taken mesiodistally and scored according to the extension of filling of lateral canals. Roots in Thermafil group showed the greater number of filled lateral canals followed by System B/Obtura, lateral condensation, Microseal, Quick-Fill, Softcore techniques. The groups obturated with Thermafil and System B/Obtura were able to fill larger number of lateral canals than the groups obturated using the other techniques statistically (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference between Thermafil and System B/Obtura techniques (p>0.05). The number of filled lateral canals located in the middle thirds of the roots were significantly higher than the filled canals in the apical and coronal third of the canals. Thermafil and System B/Obtura techniques found to be superior to other techniques in filling lateral canals.