Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation of a Resin-based Root Canal Sealer: An Eight-year Update

IntroductionThis retrospective clinical and radiographic study evaluated the 8-year outcome of one-visit endodontic treatment of root canals filled with gutta-percha and a methacrylate resin–based sealer (EndoREZ).MethodsFrom an initial sample size of 180 patients, subsequently 145 and 120 patients were evaluated after 14–18 months and 5 years, respectively. Of the remaining patient pool of 120 patients evaluated after 5 years, 112 patients with 212 root canals responded to the 8-year recall. The outcome of treatments was assessed on the basis of clinical and radiographic criteria. Endodontic success was rated on the basis of absence of clinical symptoms, the presence of a normal or slightly widened periodontal ligament space, and absence or substantial reduction in size of preexisting periradicular radiolucencies. Teeth that did not meet these criteria were considered endodontic failures.ResultsThe root canals had been adequately filled to the working length in 90 teeth (80.35%) and were short in 19 instances (16.96%). None of the roots showing apical extrusion of the sealer immediately postoperatively had radiographic evidence of the sealer in the periradicular tissues after 8 years. At recall, all patients were comfortable and free of clinical symptoms. A life table analysis showed a cumulative probability of success of 86.5% after 8 years, with a 95% confidence interval of 79.0–92.0.ConclusionsThe results of this retrospective clinical and radiographic study suggest that the tested methacrylate resin–based sealer used in conjunction with gutta-percha cones performed similarly to conventional endodontic sealers during a period of up to 8 years.