1Professor, Department of Periodontics, S.B. Dental College and Hospital, Bidar, Karnataka, India
2Reader, Department of Pedodontics, College of Dental Science, Amarghad, Gujarat, India
3Professor, Department of Oral Pathology, College of Dental Science, Amarghad, Gujarat, India
The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of tug-back after root canal preparation with respect to the gutta-percha-occupied area (GPOA).
Roots of 50 mandibular premolar teeth were prepared till size 35/0.04, then gutta-percha (GP) cones of same size and taper were adapted to root canals, and the degree of tug-back sensation was scored as loose, slight, adequate and strong. Root canals were filled with GP and AH26 sealer, and then sectioned horizontally 1 mm from the apical end at three levels. GPOA and its sum from the three levels sum of GPOA (sGPOA%) were calculated using stereomicroscope.
At each sectioned level, GPOA% was compared with the score of tug-back sensation using one-way ANOVA [Analysis of variance] at a 5% significance level. Multiple pair wise comparisons were performed using Tukey test.
Tug-back sensation was present in all canals, described as slight, adequate and strong in 4, 8 and 8 canals, respectively. Among the tug-back scores, quantitative analyses of GPOA% showed significant differences at 1-and 2-mm levels. The strong tug-back with sGPOA of 76.5 ± 11.1% was significantly higher than that of slight tug-back.
Under the conditions of this study, the tug-back scoring system can be applied to determine the amount of GP adaptation inside the root canal.
Gutta-Percha adaptation, Gutta-Percha-Occupied area, Tug-Back, Distance, Root canal obturation, Apical, Turkey test, Mandibular premolar teeth
