Comparison of vertical forces during root canal filling with three different obturation techniques

The aim of this study was to examine and compare vertical forces exerted during root canal obturation with the cold lateral condensation technique, Thermafil technique and ProTaper guttapercha. Fourty-five single-rooted permanent teeth were used in the study. All specimens were instrumented using the ProTaper rotating technique and were randomly divided into three experimental groups (n = 15 per group). In the first group, root canals were obturated using the cold lateral condensation technique. In the second group, the Thermafil technique was used to obturate root canals. In the last group, a ProTaper gutta-percha of the same taper as the instrumented root canals was used for root canal obturation. Vertical forces were measured using the device developed for simulation of endodontic treatment. The results showed a statistically significant difference (p = 0.0001) for vertical forces when cold lateral condensation obturation technique was used in comparison to other techniques. No statistically significant difference was found for vertical forces during obturation with Thermafil and ProTaper gutta-percha (p = 0.16). The cold lateral condensation technique exerted higher vertical forces in comparison to the Thermafil and ProTaper obturation techniques.