Polytetrafluoroetylene tape as temporary restorative material: a fluid filtration study

Area of Science:

• Dental Materials Science
• Endodontics
• Restorative Dentistry

Background:

• Effective coronal sealing is crucial in endodontic treatment to prevent bacterial microleakage.
• Temporary restorative materials are used to seal endodontic access cavities between appointments.
• Evaluating the sealing efficacy of various temporary materials is essential for clinical decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the coronal sealing ability of different temporary restorative materials.
• To assess sealing performance at 24 hours and 1 week post-restoration.

Main Methods:

• Extracted human incisors underwent endodontic access preparation.
• Access cavities were restored with five materials: Ceivitron, Fuji II (glass ionomer cement), IRM (zinc oxide-eugenol cement), Adhesor (zinc phosphate cement), and PTFE tape.
• Coronal sealing was evaluated using a fluid transport model at 24 hours and 1 week, with data analyzed via ANOVA and t-tests.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in leakage were observed among groups at both time points (p<0.05).
• At 24 hours, PTFE showed comparable leakage to Ceivitron, IRM, and Fuji II, but higher leakage than Adhesor.
• At 1 week, Ceivitron exhibited greater leakage than PTFE, which demonstrated similar leakage to IRM, Fuji II, and Adhesor (p>0.05). The sealing ability of IRM and PTFE improved significantly over time (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively).

Conclusions:

• Polytetrafluoroetylene tape (PTFE) offers acceptable short-term coronal sealing efficacy.
• PTFE's sealing performance at one week was comparable to commonly used temporary restorative materials like IRM, Fuji II, and Adhesor.
• The study highlights PTFE as a viable option for temporary coronal seal in endodontics.