in vitro cytotoxicity comparison of mta fillapex, ah-26 and apatite root canal sealer at different setting times

introduction: this study aimed to compare the cytotoxicity of mta fillapex, ah-26 and apatite root canal sealers at different times after mixing. methods and materials: in this in vitro study, mta fillapex, ah-26 and apatite root canal sealer were spilled uniformly by 40 µm mesh in a 96-well plate. then, human fetal foreskin fibroblast cell line (hfff2) were added to each sealer cell culture medium. cytotoxicity was measured using mtt assay after 24, 48 and 72 h and seven days. multiple comparisons were done using analysis of variances (anova) and scheffe’s post hoc test. results: all studied sealers exhibited severe cytotoxicity (more than 70%) except for apatite sealer (95%) at 48 h after mixing. cytotoxicity of mta fillapex and ah-26 were similar ( p >0.05) at 24, 48 and 72 h and 7 days after mixing of sealers. cytotoxicity of mta fillapex and apatite root canal sealer, at 24 and 48 h, were significantly different ( p =0.003 and p =0.000, respectively); mta fillapex was more cytotoxic. however in 72 h and 7 days after mixing, the difference was not significant ( p >0.05). at 24 and 48 h after mixing, ah-26 was more cytotoxic ( p =0.002 and p =0.000, respectively). same as above at 72 h and 7 days after mixing, their cytotoxicity were similar ( p >0.05). conclusion: overall cytotoxicity of all studied materials were severe. however, it was observed that the cytotoxicity of mta fillapex, ah-26 and apatite root canal sealer decreased over time. apatite root canal sealer exhibited the least cytotoxicity. cytotoxicity of mta fillapex and ah-26 were similar at different time intervals.