Assessing Sealing Ability of C-Root SP Strontium Silicate Sealer With Different Obturation Techniques: An in vitro Study.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate sealing ability of C-Root SP strontium silicate sealer combined with 3 different obturation techniques in the root canal treatment of single-canal teeth.

METHODS

192 human single-canal permanent teeth were decoronated at the cementoenamel junction to standardize 10 mm length, which were then randomly divided into 4 groups (n = 43/group): Group A (C-Root SP+single-cone technique, SC), Group B (C-Root SP+warm vertical condensation, WVC), Group C (C-Root SP+cold lateral condensation, CLC) and Group D (iRoot SP+SC, as control), with additional positive/negative controls (n = 10 each). Following root canal preparation and technique-specific obturation with bioceramic sealers and gutta-percha, the samples were incubated (7 days, 37°C, 100% humidity) for sealer setting. Assessment techniques included micro-CT based void quantification in the apical (0-3.5 mm), middle (3.5-7 mm) and coronal (7-10.5 mm) regions (n = 5/group); SEM of material‒dentin interfaces (n = 3/group); dye penetration via 7-day 1% methylene blue immersion with stereomicroscopic leakage measurement (n = 20/group); and 28-day glucose leakage monitoring with spectrophotometric analysis (n = 15/group).

RESULTS

Micro-CT revealed no significant differences in void volume between groups across all regions (P > .05). SEM showed minimal gaps only in Group C (CLC), with good adaptation in other groups. Dye leakage was similarly low in all experimental and control groups (A: 0.58 ± 0.10 mm; B: 0.62 ± 0.11 mm; C: 0.62 ± 0.10 mm; D: 0.60 ± 0.13 mm), significantly less than positive controls (5.99 ± 0.32 mm; P < .05). Glucose leakage increased over time but remained significantly lower than in positive controls, with no statistically significant differences observed among the experimental and control groups.

CONCLUSION

C-Root SP demonstrated a sealing ability equivalent to that of iRoot SP across all the tested obturation techniques (SC, WVC and CLC), indicating that the substitution of components (strontium silicate for calcium silicate) does not compromise performance. However, these in vitro findings do not reflect long-term sealing performance, further in vivo studies and prolonged evaluations are still warranted.