Efficacy of different irrigation technique in simulated curved root canals

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the canal curvature on the efficacy of sonically, ultrasonically, and laser-activated irrigation in removing a biofilm-mimicking hydrogel (BMH) from simulated canal irregularities. Transparent resin blocks containing a curved root canal (40° or 60°) were used as test models. A 4-mm groove at 1 mm from the apex was filled with BMH. Five different irrigation procedures were performed (n=20): needle irrigation (NI), EndoActivator (EA), Eddy, ultrasonically activated irrigation (UAI) (Irrisafe), and laser-activated irrigation (LAI) using a pulsed erbium laser (PIPS approach). All protocols were executed for 3×20s. Images of the groove were taken before and after irrigation, and the percentage BMH removal was calculated using image analysis software. In the 40° canal curvature model, the highest BMH removal was observed for UAI (99.9%), yielding a significantly better removal than that of EA (57.2%) and NI (53.8%), but not of LAI (96.8%) and Eddy (99.4%). In the 60° canal curvature model, UAI removed 99.5%, which resulted in significantly greater hydrogel removal than all other groups (P < 0.05). The difference between LAI (82.5%) and Eddy (78.1%) was not statistically significant, but both were more effective than EA (13.5%) and NI (7.3%). Canal curvature negatively affects the cleaning efficacy of different irrigation methods. The effect was most pronounced for the sonic techniques, while this was not the case for UAI. This could be ascribed to the prebent ultrasonic tip. Despite the position of the laser tip at the orifice level, fluid streaming during LAI resulted in substantial BMH removal beyond the curve.