Comparative analysis of novel heat-treated retreatment file system on the removal of obturating material using nano-computed tomography.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of nonsurgical retreatment is to remove the previous filling material followed by chemo-mechanical preparation of the canal to achieve proper disinfection of the root canal system. This is then followed by re-obturation. This study evaluates the time taken to retrieve the gutta-percha and the quantity of remaining filling material after retreatment with two different file systems. The quantity of remaining filling material was assessed using nano-computed tomography (CT) due to its increased accuracy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty extracted single-rooted teeth were split into two groups at random and decoronated and obturated at a standard root length of 16 mm. Solite RS3 (SRS-3) Retreatment and ProTaper Universal Retreatment (PTUR) systems were used to retrieve the gutta-percha after a preoperative nano-CT scan. Postoperative nano-CT scan was taken and both the scans were superimposed to quantify the remaining filling material. The time taken to remove gutta-percha was measured using a stopwatch. The statistical analysis comparing the two groups was conducted using the independent t-test.

RESULTS: The quantitative analysis of remaining filling material using nano-CT showed no statistical difference between both the file systems used ( P > 0.05). However, SRS-3 took significantly less time in the removal of gutta-percha ( P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Hence, we can conclude that there is no significant difference in the amount of remaining filling material between both the file systems. However, time taken to remove the gutta-percha was lesser in SRS-3 compared to PTUR file system.