AN IN-VITRO COMPARISON OF GUTTA PERCHA REMOVAL EFFICIENCY WITH PROTAPER RETREATMENT FILES, RACE INSTRUMENT, AND RECIPROC R.

Background: Retreatment procedures are carried out where root canal treatment of teeth fails. There are a variety of methods used to remove gutta-percha from the root canal such as hand files, rotary files, and ultrasonic instruments. Aim: An in-vitro comparison of efficiency of gutta percha removal in retreatment using protaper retreatment files, race instruments and reciproc R. Settings and Design: The present study is an in-vitro comparative study. Methods and Material: Seventy-five extracted non carious human premolar single rooted teeth were used in this study. Root Canal Treatment of these teeth was performed and obturation carried out with Gutta Percha and AH plus sealer. The specimens were randomly divided into 3 experimental groups. In these groups protaper retreatment files, D-Race file system and the Reciproc file system were used, respectively. Residual obturating material on canal walls was evaluated through i-CAT tomography (CBCT). Statistical analysis used: One-way ANOVA test was used to find out the difference in efficacy of gutta percha removal between the groups. Results: There were significant differences between the efficacy of the file systems across the coronal, middle and apical third. The highest percentage of filling material remaining was in Protaper followed by D-Race file and minimum in the Reciproc file. Conclusions: The Reciproc reciprocating system was most effective followed by D – Race file and ProTaper Universal Rotary Retreatment system was least effective for the removal of gutta-percha in retreatment procedures.