Este estudo, in vivo, visou a avaliar a influência do auxiliar químico no selamento dos canais radiculares obturados com o sistema RealSeal® e preparados para a colocação de pino protético, pela análise da resposta dos tecidos periapicais de dentes de cães. Foram testados os produtos químicos hipoclorito de sódio a 1% e a clorexidina gel a 2%. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em 6 cães, 10 dentes em cada um deles, num total de 60 dentes e 120 canais divididos em sete grupos, sendo três grupos teste, três grupos controle negativo e um grupo controle positivo. Todos os dentes permaneceram selados por 24 horas após terem sido tratados. Decorrido este prazo, os selamentos provisórios dos dentes pertencentes aos grupos teste e controle positivo foram removidos, permanecendo sem selamento por 90 dias. Os dentes dos grupos controle negativo foram mantidos com selamento durante todo o período experimental, quando os animais foram mortos e suas mandíbulas removidas. O processamento histológico foi realizado com hematoxilina e eosina. A análise histológica, com auxílio de um microscópio óptico, baseou-se na avaliação da situação histológica dos tecidos periapicais. A análise estatística foi realizada a partir do teste não paramétrico de Kruskal-Wallis com localização de diferenças pelos procedimentos de post-hoc, de Mann-Whitney e Willcoxon. O nível de significância considerado adequado foi de 5%. Os grupos experimentais e controle negativo apresentaram menor grau de inflamação dos tecidos periapicais em comparação com o grupo controle positivo no qual se observou, em todos os espécimes, presença de infiltrado polimorfonuclear neutrófilo e/ou eosinófilo, com presença de áreas de formação de abscesso (p=0,001). Como conseqüência das análises descritas foi concluído que os auxiliares químicos da instrumentação do canal, hipoclorito de sódio a 1%, clorexidina gel a 2% e o soro fisiológico, associados ao EDTA a 17%, não interferiram na resposta do tecido periapical, parecendo, também, não terem interferido na imbricação do sistema RealSeal® nas paredes do canal radicular, no período experimental de 90 dias. Pode-se inferir, ainda, que o material obturador remanescente após o preparo para o pino protético foi eficaz na vedação da zona apical do canal radicular, no espaço do tempo experimental. / The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the cleaning protocol on sealing of root canal obturation with RealSeal following post space preparation, by means of periapical tissue response analysis. 1% sodium hypochlorite and 2% chlorhexidine were the tested products. For this purpose, six dogs were used, 10 teeth in each dog, comprising a total of 60 teeth and 120 root canals, were randomly divided into seven groups, being three test groups, three negative controls and a positive control. Following obturation, all teeth were kept totally sealed during 24 hours to allow sealer setting. Then the positive control and the three test groups had their seal removed, and obturation material exposed to the oral environment for 90 days. Negative controls were kept sealed during the whole experimental period. The animals were killed and their mandibles removed. Histological procedures were adopted as to HE staining. Optical histological analysis at magnifications varying from 25x to 400x considered the periapical tissue status at various sites by a blinded senior observer. Non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis and a Mann-Whitney and Willcoxon post-hoc were adopted at α= 0.05. Experimental groups and negative control had lower degree of inflammation when compared with the positive control, which showed consistently neutrophil and eosinophil infiltrates and areas of abscess (p=0.001). Both sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine behaved similarly, not interfering with the periapical tissue response. The remaining filling material was efficient to seal the apical portion of the root canal, regardless of the cleaning protocol.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Root canal therapy is a recommended treatment for apical periodontitis. Root canal failure can occur as a result of microbial leakage. Resilon, a resin based root canal obturating cone material introduced in 2004 attempts to minimize leakage by a unique bonding method of the resin sealer to both the core material and to the dentin of the canal walls. Resilon has no bactericidal or antimicrobial effect15. Furthermore, it has been shown that Resilon is susceptible to alkaline and enzymatic hydrolysis as well as bacterial degradation.73, 184-186 It has been suggested that Resilon may be susceptible to degradation by microorganisms found in the infected root canal space. This work focuses on the susceptibility of root canal obturating materials to be degraded by endodontic pathogens seen in root canal treated teeth with apical periodontitis. The aim of this study was to determine if Resilon could be degraded by selected pathogenic bacteria found in the infected root canal system, and if this degradation is more severe than with gutta-percha, a conventional obturating material. P. intermedia, E. faecalis and P. aeruginosa, known endodontic pathogens were inoculated on discs of obturating material (Resilon or gutta-percha) mounted on a platform and placed in wells containing TSB incubated at 37°C under aerobic conditions. The discs were polished, examined by SEM, profilometry, and elemental analysis prior to inoculation to establish a baseline, and were then re-examined by these methods one month after inoculation. The overall results were inconclusive; and using these methods it cannot be determined that the selected bacteria can degrade Resilon. An ideal future study would utilize SEM with gold coated samples as well as atomic force microscopy to evaluate for changes in topographical features of these obturating materials. A notable finding was that Resilon turns black when exposed to bacteria, and the significance of this finding should be addressed in future studies.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The purpose of this study was to evaluate the fracture resistance of three post and core systems in endodontically treated teeth by loading to failure, and to measure marginal gaps before and after cyclic loading. Sixty extracted canines were assigned to three groups. The groups tested were: 1) Single cast post and core (Group CP). 2) Prefabricated metal post and composite resin core (Group MR). 3) Glass fiber post and composite resin core (Group FR). All teeth were obturated and prepared to receive a post and core with a coping. Thirty teeth (10 from each group) were loaded to failure, and the other 30 teeth were fatigue-loaded. The marginal gaps on the facial and lingual surface of the fatigue-loaded group were measured before and after cyclic loading. There were two hypotheses for this study. The first was that the FR group would have less marginal gap opening on the lingual surface than the other groups. The second was that the CP group would have a higher load at failure than the other groups. Group CP was found to have a significantly smaller pre-loading marginal gap than group FR (p = 0.0265) and group MR (p = 0.0273), while groups FR and MR did not have a significantly different pre-loading marginal gaps (p = 0.86). Group FR had significantly less change in marginal gap than group MR (p = 0.0013). Groups CP and MR did not have significantly different changes in marginal gap (p = 0.09). Groups CP and FR did not have significantly different changes in marginal gap (p = 0.11). The three post types did not have significantly different maximum loads to failure (p= 0.49), moments of inertia at cervical area (p = 0.75), or moments of inertia at fracture site (p=0.12). There was no significant difference between groups CP, FR, and MR in the load-to-failure test. Group CP demonstrated the highest load-to-failure values; however, the highest load-to-failure mean was for group MR. All fractures observed in this study were catastrophic. Group FR demonstrated better stress distribution and caused no early fractures in the fatigue-loading group. All groups demonstrated significant marginal gap changes on the lingual surface after fatigue loading; however, group FR demonstrated <45 μm marginal gap opening. In group FR, the reduced marginal gap opening was attributed to the use of Panavia 21 with the proper surface treatments to bond to the tooth structure, the resin composite, and the metal coping.