Apical Leakage of Three Resin-Based Endodontic Sealers after 810-nm-Diode Laser Irradiation

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the influence of 810-nm-diode laser irradiation, applied before root canal filling, on apical sealing ability of three different resin-based sealers (AH Plus, EndoRez, and RealSeal). BACKGROUND: Lasers have been widely used in endodontics. The dentin wall changes caused by laser irradiation could improve the sealing ability of endodontic cements. METHODS: Sixty single-rooted human teeth were divided into six groups, according to the endodontic sealer used and previous 810-nm-diode laser irradiation. The protocol for laser irradiation was 2.5 W in a continuous wave, in scanning mode, with four irradiations per tooth. After sample preparation, they were analyzed according to apical leakage with silver nitrate impregnation. RESULTS: The RealSeal sealer achieved minimum leakage rates (1.24 mm), with significant differences at the 1% level (Tukey's test, p<0.01) from AH Plus (1.84 mm) in nonirradiated groups. When the laser was used, there were also significant differences at the 5% level (p<0.05) between irradiated groups (1.31 and 1.78 mm, respectively). CONCLUSION: The 810-nm-diode laser irradiation did not promote significant differences in apical leakage.