Journal of Dental Medicine

Background and Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sealing ability of MTA and cold ceramic by using bacterial leakage method.
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, fifty human single root extracted teeth were chosen. In group A, 20 teeth were filled with MTA and in group B, 20 teeth were filled with cold ceramic. Five teeth were used as a positive control (obturated using gutta-percha without sealer), and five teeth were used as negative control (obturated using gutta-percha with AH26 sealer and coated with two layers of nail varnish). A bacterial leakage model utilizing Enterococcus faecalis was used for evaluation of the sealing ability. The teeth were placed in test tubes, so that they formed two upper and lower compartments. The cultured bacteria in the upper chamber were in contact with the coronal area of the tooth. The root end was placed in the lower chamber containing sterile culture media. In this case, the filling of the root canal was only the communication path between the upper and lower chambers. In this method, the presence of turbidity in the lower chamber indicated that bacteria had penetrated through barrier and reached the medium. The leakage was measured. The acquired data was analyzed using Chi-square test.
Results: In group A (MTA), 7 samples and in group B (Cold ceramic), 4 samples should the leakage. In regarding the leakage, there was no statistically significant difference between MTA and cold ceramic. (P=0.288)
Conclusion: The results showed that the sealing ability of MTA and cold ceramic was similar as root filling materials.

Background and Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the tooth discoloration caused by cold ceramic compared to MTA Angelus in contact with the washing solutions such as sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and normal saline.
Materials and Methods: 50 samples of extracted human maxillary anterior teeth were selected. After preparing the access cavity, they were divided into 4 experimental groups and 1 control group (10 in each group). The access cavities of teeth in groups 2 and 4 were rinsed with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite and those in groups 1 and 3 were rinsed with normal saline. Then, after drying, 3 mm thickness of cold ceramic (groups 1 and 2) and MTA Angelus (groups 3 and 4) were placed in the access cavities of the teeth. After setting of the materials, all specimens were restored with a resin modified glass ionomer. Based on the CIE Lab system, each sample’s total color change (∆E) was obtained before, one, and 90 days after application. Data were statistically analyzed using the Wilcoxon test.
Results: According to the results, there was no statistically significant difference in the average tooth discoloration between the groups filled with cold ceramic and in different time periods (P>0.05). While, in the groups filled with MTA Angelus, the difference in the average tooth discoloration in 90 days after application was significantly higher than one day (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that compared to MTA Angelus, cold ceramic causes less tooth discoloration over time and therefore, it can be suggested as a more suitable alternative endodontic cement than MTA Angelus.