Assessment of leakage in the restored pulp chamber of endodontically treated multirooted teeth

The leakage associated with restorative materials placed within the pulp chamber of maxillary and mandibular molars was studied in vitro. The root canals and pulp chambers of 69 extracted teeth were prepared chemomechanically and sealed with gutta-percha and Tubliseal using cold lateral condensation. The teeth were divided into five groups. Gutta-percha was removed from the pulp chambers of three of the groups of 15 teeth and filled with one of three materials, a glass ionomer cement, a cermet cement or an amalgam. The gutta-percha was removed from the pulp chamber in the fourth group of nine teeth, which were left unfilled. The gutta-percha in the pulp chambers of the fifth group of teeth was left intact. The teeth were suspended in Indian ink, thermocycled for 24 hours and stored for a further 48 hours at 37 degrees C. They were then demineralized and cleared and the degree of coronal leakage was assessed. Those teeth with no filling in the pulp chamber showed extensive leakage. The gutta-percha-filled group demonstrated greater leakage than did the groups in which other restorative materials had been employed (P less than 0.01). No significant differences in leakage occurred between the other groups (P less than 0.05). It is recommended that the pulp chamber of molars should be restored with a filling material following root canal treatment.