Abstract
Aims: This study aims to assess the apical microleakage of root canals after irrigation by NaOCl, EDTA, and MTAD.Materials and methods: 36 lower premolars were used in this study. Preparation of the samples was done by files of ProTaper to size F3. Samples were distributed into three experimenting groups; each one contained ten samples as follows: Group 1- samples were finally washed for five minutes with five ml of 5.25% NaOCl. Group 2- samples were finally washed for five minutes with five ml of 17% EDTA. Group 3- samples were finally washed for five minutes with five ml of MTAD. Six samples were utilized as positive and negative control groups, each one contained three samples. The samples were obturated by single cone technique except for the samples of the positive control group, which were not obturated. All the samples were incubated at 37 OC for 7 days in 100% humidity. The dye penetration method was used to assess apical leakage. Finally, data were collected and statistically analyzed. Results: MTAD group revealed the least leakage supervened by the EDTA group and the NaOCl group revealed the highest leakage. The MTAD group did not differ significantly from the EDTA group, while the NaOCl group differed significantly from MTAD and EDTA groups. A positive control group revealed a dye leak through the whole length of the root, while a negative control group did not reveal any dye leak. Conclusions: Under the conditions of this study, the final irrigation with MTAD or EDTA is better than the final irrigation with 5.25 % NaOCl in terms of less apical microleakage.
