Effect of root resection on the apical sealing ability of mineral trioxide aggregate

Objective. The purpose of this in vitro study was to determine the minimum depth of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA; ProRoot; DENTSPLY/Tulsa Dental, Tulsa, Okla) required to maintain an apical seal following root resection. Study design. In 10 instrumented teeth, MTA was used to obturate the apical 6 mm of the root canal and was allowed to set for 48 hours. Leakage was determined by means of a fluid filtration method at a pressure of 20 cm H₂O. Leakage was measured before root resection, and after 3, 4, 5, and 6 mm apical resections. Data were analyzed by means of a Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance with P < .05. Results. Fluid leakage was shown to increase after each resection, but did not reach statistical significance (P < .05) until 4 mm of the apex had been removed. Conclusion. The results indicate that root resection did not significantly affect the sealing ability of MTA when at least 3 mm of the MTA remained. Although there was a statistically significant difference in leakage following the 4 mm resection, it is unknown what the biological difference would be between the 3 mm and 4 mm resections.