The influence of obturation technique on sealer thickness and depth of sealer penetration into dentinal tubules evaluated by computer-aided digital analysis.

The aim of this study was to determine sealer penetration into dentinal tubules and sealer thickness with different obturation materials and techniques, with the null hypothesis that sealer cement thickness and dentinal tubule penetration was not affected by obturation technique. This study used 180 freshly extracted human mandibular premolars. Samples were obturated using the lateral condensation technique with either gutta-percha (Group 1) or Resilon (Group 2), using AH Plus (subgroup A) or Epiphany (subgroup B) as a sealer. Other samples were obturated with One-Step Obturator (Group 3) using AH Plus or Epiphany sealer. The sealer thickness and sealer penetration into dentinal tubules was evaluated using stereomicroscopy and analysis of digital images using AutoCAD software at 5.0 mm, 3.0 mm, and 1.0 mm from the apex. The mean value of sealer thickness for Group 3 was significantly lower than the mean values of the other groups. There was no significant difference in the mean values between subgroups A and B for Group 1 or Group 3, whereas for Group 2, the mean value in subgroup A was significantly higher than the mean value in subgroup B. The greatest average frequency of the penetration of sealer cement was found at the 5.0 mm level, followed by the 3.0 mm level, which, in turn, was greater than at the 1.0 mm level. The thickness of the sealer cement is dependent on the obturation technique employed, while the penetration of the sealer into the dentinal tubules is independent of the obturation technique.