Evaluation of sealing ability and adaptability of different endodontic sealers: in vitro comparative study

Root canal sealers play a critical role in preventing microleakage and ensuring the long-term success of endodontic treatment. AH-Plus is widely considered the gold standard epoxy resin-based sealer, while Bio-C sealer represents a newer premixed bioceramic material with bioactive properties. NanoSeal-S is a recently introduced silicone-based sealer reinforced with nanosilver particles, for which limited independent scientific data are currently available. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the sealing ability and adaptability of these three root canal sealers.

Forty-five extracted single-rooted human teeth were decoronated and randomly divided into three experimental groups (n = 15) based on the sealer used: Group A-AH-Plus, Group B-NanoSeal-S, and Group C-Bio-C sealer. Root canals were instrumented using the ProTaper Next system and obturated with the single-cone technique. Adaptability was assessed by calculating the percentage of sealer-dentin interfacial contact using stereomicroscopy and ImageJ analysis. Microleakage was evaluated using the dye penetration clearing technique. Viscosity of each sealer was measured using a Brookfield viscometer. Data normality was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Interfacial contact percentage data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post-hoc test, whereas microleakage data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn's multiple comparison test at a significance level of 0.05.

NanoSeal-S showed the highest interfacial contact percentage (92.3%), followed by AH-Plus (75.8%) and Bio-C sealer (59.9%), with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). Bio-C sealer exhibited the lowest median microleakage value (0 µm), whereas NanoSeal-S demonstrated the highest leakage (166 µm). AH-Plus showed intermediate leakage values (65 µm). Viscosity measurements showed NanoSeal-S had the lowest viscosity, followed by AH-Plus and Bio-C sealer.

NanoSeal-S demonstrated superior interfacial adaptability, whereas Bio-C sealer showed the least microleakage among the tested materials.