Effect of Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation on apical sealing ability of calcium silicate-containing endodontic materials in root-end cavities

Abstract

The aim of this research was to evaluate the apical sealing abilities of 60 root-end cavities filled with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and iRoot BP cements after treated with either 17% EDTA solution or Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation. After the filling procedure, apical leakage quantity was measured at 4 weeks using a fluid filtration method. One root from each group was processed for scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses. Both EDTA/MTA and laser irradiation/MTA combinations showed significantly lower microleakage than EDTA/iRoot BP and laser irradiation/iRoot BP combinations (p<0.05). Between groups of the same filling material, there were no significant differences among specimens treated with EDTA or laser (p>0.05). Both MTA and iRoot-BP demonstrated tag-like structures within the dentinal tubules when used in conjunction with EDTA.