Comparative Evaluation of Two Obturation Techniques and Three Endodontic Sealers in Filling Lateral Canals: An In Vitro Study.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficiency of two obturation techniques in filling artificially designed lateral canals using three different endodontic sealers.

Materials and methods: Twenty-four resin blocks were used, each containing four main canals and eight lateral canals, with four located in the apical region and four in the coronal region. The primary canals were instrumented, and the blocks were divided into two groups (n = 12 per group) based on the obturation technique: Group I utilized the single-cone technique, while group II used the lateral condensation technique. Each group was further divided into three subgroups (n = 4 per subgroup) according to the type of sealer: subgroup A used AH Plus, subgroup B used BioRoot RCS, and subgroup C used GuttaFlow 2. After canals obturation, the lateral canals were examined under a stereomicroscope to measure penetration depths of sealers and fill percentages, with data subjected to statistical analysis.

Results: The lateral condensation technique achieved significantly better lateral canal filling compared with the single-cone technique (p < 0.05). The lateral canals in the apical region showed better filling compared with the coronal lateral canals in both obturation methods. For the lateral condensation technique, AH Plus (99.51%) and GuttaFlow 2 (99.26%) provided the highest filling performance of apical lateral canals, while BioRoot RCS (83.05%) outperformed others in filling coronal lateral canals. In the single-cone technique, BioRoot RCS (80.13%) was the most effective in the filling of the apical lateral canals, while all sealers exhibited similar performance in the filling of the coronal lateral canals.

Conclusion: The efficiency of filling the lateral canals was influenced by the obturation technique, the location of lateral canals, and the type of sealer. BioRoot RCS demonstrated versatility in filling apical and coronal lateral canals, while AH Plus and GuttaFlow 2 excelled primarily in filling the apical lateral canals.

Clinical significance: These findings offer valuable guidance to clinicians in selecting optimal sealers and obturation techniques to enhance the filling of lateral canals. How to cite this article: El Sayed MAM, El Sayed NM. Comparative Evaluation of Two Obturation Techniques and Three Endodontic Sealers in Filling Lateral Canals: An In Vitro Study. J Contemp Dent Pract 2025;26(1):25-33.