In vitro comparison of three different lengths of remaining gutta-percha for establishment of apical seal after post-space preparation

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

What length of apical gutta percha should be left when preparing post spaces?

Main

Rahimi S, Shahi S et al. J Oral Sci 2008; 50: 435–439

Endodontic treatment was carried out on extracted maxillary anterior teeth that were 'checked for cracks'. Post spaces were prepared leaving 4, 5 and 6 mm of remaining gutta percha. The teeth were immersed in India Ink for three days, sectioned and dye leakage was measured using a stereomicroscope. Each group comprised 32 teeth and the investigators used another 30 teeth as controls. Analysis of variance showed that increasing the length of remaining gutta perch from 4 mm to 6 mm significantly reduced micro leakage. However, in all groups the mean leakage recorded was less than 1 mm. The authors touch on the relative importance of achieving coronal and/or apical seal but do not assert that the only way to resolve this conundrum is to carry out survival analysis studies, with sufficient statistical power, on endodontically teeth restored with post-retained crowns.