A comparison of thermoplastic obturation techniques: adaptation to the canal walls

The purpose of this study was to directly compare the ability of the three types of Thermafil obturators, the Obtura II thermoplasticized injectable technique, and the lateral condensation technique to obturate a standardized root canal. A split-tooth model was constructed and the root canal was obturated 20 times with each technique. The quality of each obturation was graded according to established criteria of adaptation. Statistical analysis of the results indicated that all the techniques were significantly different from each other (p < 0.0001) except for the plastic and titanium Thermafil groups (p > 0.05), which were similar. Based on the evaluated criteria, the Obtura II injectable technique demonstrated the best adaptation to the prepared root canal. This group was followed in order by the plastic and titanium Thermafil obturators, the stainless steel Thermafil obturators, and finally by the lateral condensation technique.