Efficacy of XP-endo Finisher-R in enhancing removal of bioceramic sealer from oval root canal: a micro-CT study

Aim: To investigate the efficacy of the XP-endo Finisher-R (XP-FR) and manual H-filing in enhancing the removal of Totalfill BC sealer from oval root canals.

Methodology: Forty mandibular incisors were prepared using ProTaper Next up to file X3 then filled with warm vertical condensation using Totalfill BC sealer. The volume of the root canal filling post-obturation and the remaining volume post-retreatment using Mani NRT-GPR system were assessed using Micro-CT (µ-CT). The total volume in 3 mm was calculated from the cervical line till the root apex using the CT-an software. Specimens were randomly divided into two equal groups n=20 according to the supplementary approach of gutta percha removal used; where Group I: XP-FR was used for 1 min, and Group II: size 30 H-file was used in a filing motion for 1 min. Specimens were again scanned using µ-CT and the remaining gutta percha volume was calculated. Data were statistically analyzed using Wilcoxon, Man-Whitney, Friedman tests with significance level of 5%.

Results: Significant reduction of the remining filling material was recorded post-retreatment with percentage of reduction of 63.34%, 78.53%, and 66.21% at the apical, middle, and coronal thirds respectively using Mani NRT-GPR system. Supplementary removal approaches significantly improved filling material removal (P<0.05). XP-FR removed significantly more filling material than manual H-filing with percentage of filling material reduction of 52.22%, 34.92%, and 40.60% compared to 21.89%, 18.43%, 31.72% in the apical, middle, and coronal thirds (Man-Whitney test, P<0.001).

Conclusions: Rotary retreatment files failed to totally remove the root canal filling material. Supplementary methods have improved root canal filling material removal; where XP-FR significantly removed more filling than manual H-filing.