INTRODUCTION This study was carried out to evaluate the technical quality of root canal treatment (RCT) performed by undergraduate dental students at the Islamic Azad University in Tehran, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS Four-hundred records of patients who had received RCT at faculty of dentistry, between the years 2004-2006 were evaluated. For each treated tooth at least three periapical x-rays...

OBJECTIVE This study evaluated whether smear layer removal has any influence on the filling of the root canal system, by examining the obturation of lateral canals, secondary canals and apical deltas. MATERIAL AND METHODS Eighty maxillary and mandibular canines were randomly divided into two groups, according to their irrigation regimen. Both groups were irrigated with 1% NaOCl during canal s...

Among a variety of biomaterials that have been reported to be ideal for dental repair, calcium hydroxide has been shown to have excellent long-term biocompatibility in the pulp and periapical areas. Here we report an alternative method employing calcium hydroxide for periapical surgery in a patient who developed internal apical resorption after traumatic injury, which negatively affected the qu...

Root canal instrumentation produces a layer of organic and inorganic material called the smear layer that may also contain bacteria and their by-products. It can prevent the penetration of intracanal medicaments into dentinal tubules and influence the adaptation of filling materials to canal walls. This article provides an overview of the smear layer, focusing on its relevance to endodontics. T...

OBJECTIVES This in vitro study aimed to investigate the ability of Candida albicans (C. albicans) and Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) to penetrate dentinal tubules of instrumented and retreated root canal surface of split human teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty intact extracted human single-rooted teeth were divided into 4 groups, negative control, positive control without canal instrume...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the efficacy of two retreatment rotary systems in the removal of Gutta-percha (GP) and sealer from the root canal walls with or without solvent. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty-eight extracted human mandibular first premolars were prepared and obturated with GP and AH Plus sealer. Samples were then randomly divided into four groups. Group I...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the periapical healing process of dogs' teeth with or without apical patency and after root canal filling with two types of sealers. Forty roots of premolars and incisors were utilized. The root canals were over-instrumented and dressed with a corticosteroid-antibiotic solution for 7 days to obtain ingrowth of periapical connective tissue into the ca...

AIM To investigate the effect of the radiographic and clinical quality of coronal restorations on the composition of the root canal flora of teeth with necrotic pulps and teeth with root fillings associated with apical periodontitis. METHODOLOGY Twenty-eight necrotic pulps and 35 root filled canals with signs of apical periodontitis were studied. Both the coronal filling (presence of radiogra...

This study aimed to assess the influence of the type of endodontic sealer (salicylate resin-based sealer vs. two endodontic sealers) and the time of fiber post cementation after root filling on the post adhesion to bovine root dentin. Sixty bovine roots were assigned to six groups (n=10), considering an experimental design with two factors (factorial 3x2): endodontic sealer factor in three leve...

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to obtain a three-dimensional analysis of the isthmus area of the mesiobuccal root canal system in mandibular molars using high-resolution micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) scanning and to measure the amount of debris and root filling material in the isthmus after instrumentation/irrigation and root filling. METHODS Mandibular molars with two separated me...