Influence of the gutta-percha taper and finger spreader on lateral condensation effectiveness

Resumo

Lateral condensation effectiveness may be influenced
by the gutta-percha and finger spreader taper used during root canal
obturation. Objective: To evaluate the penetration ability of finger
spreader into simulated root canals prepared using MTwo rotary
system and filled with different gutta-percha and finger spreader
tapers. Material and methods: Resin blocks with curved root canals
had the apical diameter enlarged up to #25.06 and distributed
into groups (n = 6) according to the gutta-percha taper (#25.02,
#25.04, and #25.06) and the finger spreader (#30 and #35 NiTi,
and stainless steel B) used to perform cold lateral condensation.
After applying a load of 1.5 Kg over the finger spreaders’ head, the
distance between the finger spread tip and the apical limit of the
root canal preparation were obtained. The data were submitted to
Anova and Tukey-Krammer’s test, with 5% of significance. Results:
The gutta-percha cones with 0.02 taper enabled higher finger spreader
penetration when compared to 0.04 and 0.06 tapers (p < 0.05),
which were similar between each other (p > 0.05), regardless of
the type and diameter of the finger spreader used. When different
finger spreaders were compared among themselves, stainless steel
B showed higher penetration ability (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It was
concluded that the stainless-steel finger spreaders showed superior
penetration ability and gutta-percha with lower tapers enabled a
more effective lateral condensation at the apical third.