Warm gutta-percha obturation technique: a critical review

Cleaning and shaping the root canals play an important role to remove the organic debris within the endodontic system. The result, however, must be maintained over time through an effective root canal fillings preventing the entry of micro-organisms and tissutal fluid in the root canal system. Recently new materials have been introduced on the market, hence alternatives techniques for the root canals obturation have been developed and proposed. Even if cold lateral condensation is still considered the technique to refer to, there are numerous alternatives that use heat to achieve optimal adaptation of gutta-percha to the root canal space. The purpose of this work is to emphasize the positive aspect and points of weaknesses of different methods used for filling the root canals in order to allow the clinician to carry out choices as possible based on scientific evidence. Although many clinical trials still have not identified the superiority of one obturation technique over the others, the importance of this stage is objectively primary, so much that in the clinical practice we can notice an increasing success of endodontic treatment.