Comparative evaluation of the type of sealer used for obturation of single visit root canal treated maxillary and mandibular posterior teeth-a retrospective analysis

Abstract

Single visit root canal therapies are indicated when no periapical changes are appreciated. The final stage of the root canal treatment deals with the filling of the canal system with a biocompatible material. Obturation comprises a core filling material and a sealer. The study aimed to evaluate the type of sealer used for obturation of posterior teeth treated in a single visit and to corre-late the sealer use with factors like tooth, gender and operator qualification. The study was a retrospective analysis. A total of 86,000 case sheets were reviewed and necessary data was extracted. The type of sealer used for the obturation was assessed and tabulated along with details like age, gender and tooth. The data was exported to IBM SPSS Software 20. Frequency distribution tables were created and a Chi-square test was performed to check for the correlation of the type of sealer used with various parameters. A total of 1209 molar cases were treated out of which 34.5% were maxillary first molars. The endodontic sealers that have been reported to be put to use are zinc oxide based, resin-based, calcium hydroxide based, medicated, 3 sealer, 4 sealer & others. Maximum cases (53.5%) were treated with a resin-based sealer. A positive correlation (p-value <0.05) is found between the use of sealer and operator qualification. Within the limitations of the study, a variety of root canal sealers were found to have been used for obturation and a positive correlation between the operator qualification & type of sealer used for obturation of molars in single visit RCTs was found.