This scientometric and bibliometric analysis explored scientific publications related to hydraulic calcium silicate-based (HCSB) sealers used in endodontology, aiming to describe basic bibliometric indicators and analyze current research trends.
A comprehensive search was conducted in Web of Science and Scopus using specific HCSB sealer and general endodontic-related terms. Basic research parameters were collected, including publication year, authorship, countries, institutions, journals, level of evidence, study design and topic of interest, title terms, author keywords, citation counts, and density.
In total, 498 articles published in 136 journals were retrieved for the period 2008–2023. Brazil was the leading country, and the universities of Bologna in Italy and Sao Paolo in Brazil were represented equally as leading institutions. The most frequently occurring keywords were “calcium silicate,” “root canal sealer MTA-Fillapex,” and “biocompatibility,” while title terms such as “calcium,” “sealers,” “root,” “canal,” “silicate based,” and “endodontic” occurred most often. According to the thematic map analysis, “solubility” appeared as a basic theme of concentrated research interest, and “single-cone technique” was identified as an emerging, inadequately developed theme. The co-occurrence analysis revealed 4 major clusters centered on sealers’ biological and physicochemical properties, obturation techniques, retreatability, and adhesion.
This analysis presents bibliographic features and outlines changing trends in HCSB sealer research. The research output is dominated by basic science articles scrutinizing the biological and specific physicochemical properties of commonly used HCSB sealers. Future research needs to be guided by studies with a high level of evidence that utilize innovative, sophisticated technologies.
Recently, bioceramic sealers like EndoSequence BC Sealer (BC Sealer) have been introduced and are being used in endodontic practice. However, this sealer has limited research related to its retreatability. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the retreatability of two sealers, BC Sealer as compared with AH Plus using micro-computed tomographic (micro-CT) analysis.
Fifty-six extracted human maxillary incisors were instrumented and randomly divided into 4 groups of 14 teeth: 1A, gutta-percha, AH Plus retreated with chloroform; 1B, gutta-percha, AH Plus retreated without chloroform; 2A, gutta-percha, EndoSequence BC Sealer retreated with chloroform; 2B, gutta-percha, EndoSequence BC Sealer retreated without chloroform. Micro-CT scans were taken before and after obturation and retreatment and analyzed for the volume of residual material. The specimens were longitudinally sectioned and digitized images were taken with the dental operating microscope. Data was analyzed using an ANOVA and a
There was significantly less residual root canal filling material in the AH Plus groups retreated with chloroform as compared to the others. The BC Sealer samples retreated with chloroform had better results than those retreated without chloroform. Furthermore, patency could be re-established in only 14% of teeth in the BC Sealer without chloroform group.
The results of this study demonstrate that the BC Sealer group had significantly more residual filling material than the AH Plus group regardless of whether or not both sealers were retreated with chloroform.