Use of self-etching adhesives to seal resected apices

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sealing ability of four self-etching adhesives placed over blood-contaminated/uncontaminated resected root apices without root-end preparation. Extracted maxillary incisors and canines were randomly divided into four groups of 10 teeth each. After canal preparation and resection of the apex, four self-etching adhesives (Clearfil SE Bond, One-Up Bond F, Unifil Bond, and ABF) were applied over the control and contaminated surfaces. The roots were then subjected to 15 cm of water pressure to simulate periapical microleakage stress. Data were analyzed using a two-way repeated measures, ANOVA. Positive and negative controls responded as expected. Statistical analysis indicated that there were no significant differences in the sealing effectiveness among the adhesives applied to contaminated or uncontaminated groups. All contaminated groups had significantly higher leakage (p < 0.003) than their uncontaminated pairs.