Clinical evaluation of bacterial leakage of endodontic temporary filling materials

This study was an in vivo comparison of the bacterial leakage associated with three endodontic temporary restorative materials: Cavit, Intermediate Restorative Material (IRM), and TERM. The access openings of 51 endodontically treated teeth were randomly sealed with a 4-mm thickness of one of the three materials. Three wk after placement of each temporary restoration, bacterial leakage was evaluated by sampling from beneath the temporary restoration and then culturing the samples both aerobically and anaerobically. Positive growth occurred in 4 of 14 TERM samples and in 1 of 18 IRM samples. Cavit did not demonstrate leakage in any of the teeth in which it was used. Cavit provided a significantly better seal than TERM over the study period.