Stomatology ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (7): 608-613.doi: 10.13591/j.cnki.kqyx.2023.07.005

• Basic Research • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Efficacy of different acoustic irrigation activators assisted with smear layer removal in curved root canals: A SEM evaluation

WANG Yanru,LU Yaqian,ZHAO Qitong,LI Jin()   

  1. Department of VIP Clinic, The Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Stomatological Translational Medicine, Nanjing 210029, China
  • Revised:2023-03-16 Online:2023-07-28 Published:2023-07-28

Abstract:

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of different acoustic irrigation activators assisted with smear layer removal in curved root canals. Methods Sixty-six extracted human mature molars with L-shaped root canals in Vertucci type Ⅰ configuration system were chosen. The mean angles of curvature, radius and curve length after ProTaper Next instrumentation were 39.9°±8.4°, (2.5±1.1) mm and (4.7±0.5) mm respectively. They were randomly assigned to one control group(n=6) and five experimental groups(n=12) for final irrigation as follows: no additional irrigation, Manual dynamic irrigation (MDI), Ultrasonic activation with a K-type file size 15/.02 (U-K) and Irrisafe20/.00 (U-IRR), Sonic activation with EndoActivator25/.04 (EA) and EDDY20/.04 (ED). The apical 6 mm of root canals were cleaved in half as the curved outer and inner sidewalls, and observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in three 2 mm segments each as coronal-middle-apical thirds. The smear layer was evaluated using a five-score scale and a statistical analysis was conducted. Results All tested groups had a cleaner canal wall than the control group at any level of the root canal curved portion (P<0.05). At the coronal-third of outer canal wall, both U-IRR and ED scored smaller than others, and had a significant difference with MDI and EA (P<0.05); at the inner wall, U-K scored the highest and was inferior to both U-IRR and the two sonic activators (P<0.05). At the middle-third part and also the most curved canal area, ED was superior to U-K at two sidewalls and to EA at the inner wall (P<0.05). At the apical-third of outer canal wall, U-IRR and ED were superior to MDI (P<0.05); at the inner wall, there was no statistical difference among them. The cleanliness at apical outer wall was unsatisfactory, which was inferior to coronal inner wall in MDI/EA/ED and to apical inner wall in U-K/U-IRR (P<0.05). Conclusion ED and U-IRR assisted with smear layer removal have better performance in curved root canal, and the cleanliness at apical outer canal wall needs to be enhanced.

Key words: irrigant activation, smear layer, canal curvature

CLC Number: