Microleakage of resected MTA

Forty-six single rooted extracted human teeth were used in this study. After cleaning and shaping, twenty canals were randomly selected for obturation with MTA placed in an orthograde manor (Group 1). Another twenty roots were obturated with gutta-percha and Kerr EWT sealer, using warm vertical compaction (Group 2). The apical 3 mm of each root in both groups were resected at approximately 45 degrees to its long axis. The teeth were aged for 48 h in a humidor. The root-ends of the teeth in Group 2 were then prepared and received MTA as a root-end filling material to a depth of 3 mm. Six roots were used as positive and negative controls. The roots of all teeth were placed in contact with India ink for 48 h. The roots were split and examined for dye leakage. There was no discernible leakage in teeth with resected MTA or those with MTA placed as a retrograde root-end filling material. We found no significant difference in dye leakage between resected MTA (Group 1) and non-resected MTA (Group 2). Based on these results it appears that the resection of set MTA does not affect its sealing ability.