The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of soft chelating irrigant on the sealing ability of root fillings by using a glucose leakage test.

A total of 45 single-rooted teeth were selected for the study. The teeth were decoronated leaving a total length of 13mm. The root canals prepared using K3 NiTi rotary instruments to an apical dimension of size 45(0.06 taper). The specimens were then randomly divided into 3 experimental groups of 13 roots each and 2 control groups of 3 roots each. Specimen in each group were prepared with different irrigation protocols : group 1, 2.5% NaOCl; group 2, 2.5% NaOCl and 17% EDTA; group 3, 2.5% NaOCl and 15% HEBP. The root canals were filled with gutta-percha and AH Plus sealer using lateral condensation. After 7 days in 37℃, 100% humidity, the coronal-to-apical microleakage was evaluated quantitatively using a glucose leakage model. The leaked glucose concentration was measured with spectrophotometry at 1, 4, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days.

There was a tendency of increase in leakage in all experimental groups during experimental period. HEBP-treated dentin showed no significant difference with EDTA-treated dentin during experimental period. From the 21th day onward, HEBP-treated dentin showed significantly lower leakage than smear-covered dentin. HEBP-treated dentin displayed a similar sealing pattern to EDTA-treated dentin and a better sealing ability than smear-covered dentin. Consequently, a soft chelator(HEBP) could be considered as the possible alternative to EDTA.