Effect of a final alcohol rinse on sealer coverage of obturated root canals

An endodontic sealer is required to provide an apical and coronal seal in root canals. No previously reported methods of sealer placement completely coated canal walls. The purpose of this study was to dehydrate canal walls with alcohol and determine if this permitted better sealer coverage. Forty single-rooted teeth were prepared and divided into 4 groups of 10 teeth according to method of sealer placement and final irrigant: (a) by lentulo spiral and (b) file NaOCl, (c) lentulo and alcohol, and (d) file and alcohol. After canal preparation, groups 1 and 2 were irrigated with 1 ml of NaOCl and dried with paper points. Groups 3 and 4 were irrigated with 1 ml of alcohol and dried. AH26 (0.04 ml) dyed with charcoal black was applied to the apical end of the file or lentulo and placed in the canal to coat the walls. Gutta-percha without additional sealer was laterally condensed. Teeth were cleared and evaluated for location and amount of sealer visible. Data were evaluated by Kruskal-Wallis and analysis of variance. The results showed (a) no significant differences among the four groups, (b) all areas had sealer present, (c) the coronal third had > 50% sealer coverage in nearly all teeth, and (d) the middle and apical thirds showed the most variability in sealer coverage.