COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF CONTACT ANGLES OF ROOT CANAL SEALERS TO GUTTA PERCHA- AN IN-VITRO STUDY

Adhesion of endodontic sealers to Dentine and Gutta percha (GP) provides an understanding of the interactions between the root canal wall and the core material. The interaction of Bioceramic sealers has been studied previously but the wetability to Gutta percha has rarely been evaluated. Hence, the present in-vitro study was designed to evaluate and compare the wetability of five different root canal sealers with GP by measuring the sealers’ static contact angles (SCA). Hundred flat and smooth samples of GP were prepared and randomly divided into five groups (n=20) based on the sealer used to wet the surface of GP. Group 1: AH Plus, Group 2: Gutta Flow, Group3: Calpex, Group 4: MTA Fill apex, Group 5: Endosequence BC Sealer. Controlled (0.1 ml) volume droplets of each sealer were placed onto the flat GP surfaces using a sessile drop method, and static contact angles were measured using a KRUSS Goniometer. The mean values of all the samples were calculated, and the data were statistically analyzed using One-way ANOVA and Post hoc Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. The significance level was set as P<0.05. Under the conditions of this in-vitro study group 4 showed the least mean CA of 45.14 ± 5.3 followed by group 5 with the mean CA of 46.86±4.2. Lesser CA signifies greater wetting ability and vice-versa. The analysis revealed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Henceforth, Bioceramic sealers exhibit a superior wetting ability to GP compared with the other sealers tested in the study.