Aim: The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate and compare the microleakage of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and Geristore root-end filling materials in different environments.
Materials and methods: After removing the anatomical crowns of ninety extracted human maxillary central incisors, their root canals were instrumented and obturated. The apical 3 mm of each root was resected, and a standardized root-end cavity was prepared using an ultrasonic tip. The roots were alienated into three equal subgroups for each material and the root-end filling was performed in different environments namely dry, saliva contaminated, and blood contaminated. Samples were immersed in 0.2% Rhodamine B dye for 48 h. Roots were sectioned longitudinally and examined under a fluorescent microscope to measure the linear dye penetration. The results were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance and Tukey's honestly significant difference post hoc test.
Results: The Geristore dry group illustrated the lowest linear leakage, while the MTA saliva-contaminated group illustrated the highest leakage. In dry environment, linear dye penetration of both MTA and Geristore groups did not show any significant difference. However, statistically significant difference was observed between MTA and Geristore groups in blood- and saliva-contaminated environments.
Conclusion: Geristore showed better results in saliva- and blood-contaminated environments; hence, Geristore may be used as an alternative to MTA for root-end filling.
Keywords: Rhodamine-b; root-end filling materials; sealing ability; ultrasonic retro-tips.