Evaluation of the apical seal of root canal fillings with different methods.

The purpose of the study was to compare dye penetration methods conducted passively, under negative pressure, or under high pressure conditions. Ninety human maxillary incisors were instrumented and obturated with either the lateral condensation or single cone technique. India ink was used as a dye for passive and negative pressure (60 Torr) penetration methods. For dye penetration under high pressure conditions (200 MPa), a colored epoxy resin was used. Apical leakage was linearly measured evaluating both the root surface that showed the highest degree of penetration and all four surfaces of each root. The results revealed no significant difference between passive and negative pressure penetration methods. The amount of apical leakage obtained using dye penetration under high pressure conditions was significantly lower. Lateral condensation and single cone techniques yielded similar sealing abilities. It is concluded that there is no need to use negative pressure for evaluating the sealing ability of root canal fillings in vitro.