An in vitro evaluation of the effect of dentin deproteinization on coronal microleakage in endodontically treated teeth

Background: The most common cause of failure of endodontic therapy is inadequate apical and coronal seal. Proper coronal seal reduces the risk of endodontic failure. Hence, the present study was done to test the role of self-etching primers in reducing microleakage through coronal seal. Materials and Methods: Following root canal preparation and obturation, 46 specimen teeth were subjected to one of the test methods as follows: Group I - deproteinization with 3% sodium hypochlorite and etching with 37% phosphoric acid; Group II - deproteinization with 3% sodium hypochlorite and chelation with 15% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (Glyde) without etching. Group I and Group II were further divided into two subgroups with 10 specimens in each: In subgroup A, Clearfil Liner Bond 2V was used and in subgroup B, Excite was used. Group III (obturated without access restorative material) had six specimens. Results: Spectrophotometric analysis was done to quantitatively analyze the amount of dye leakage. Microleakage values obtained in Group I and Group II were comparable. In Group I, marginally better values were obtained with the Clearfil Liner Bond 2V in comparison with Excite. In Group II, microleakage values obtained with Clearfil Liner Bond 2V and Excite were similar and statistically not significant. In Group III (control) where no access restoratives were placed, maximum leakage was observed. Conclusions: Maximum leakage values were observed in Group III, when obturated without access restorative and when exposed to artificial saliva. Clearfil Liner Bond 2V as a self-etching primer showed better values in preventing microleakage. Deproteinization may be important to reduce microleakage when using the fifth-generation bonding system (Excite) and sixth-generation bonding system (Clearfil Liner Bond 2V).