The effect of various intracanal oxidizing agents on the push-out strength of various perforation repair materials.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of intracanal oxidizing agents on the strength of materials used to repair root perforations.

STUDY DESIGN: Standardized perforations in bovine root samples were repaired with mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), Super-EBA cement (S-EBA), or intermediate restorative material (IRM). After 7 days, 10 samples from each group were tested for push-out strength with an Instron machine (controls). The remaining samples were immersed in NaOCl, sodium perborate mixed with saline (SPB+S), Superoxol (SO), sodium perborate mixed with Superoxol (SPB+SO), or saline for 7 days to investigate the effect of irrigating and walking bleach compounds on the perforation repair materials. Push-out strength values were compared with those of the dry materials to determine whether any loss of integrity had occurred.

RESULTS: MTA was statistically significantly less resistant across conditions to displacement than S-EBA or IRM. IRM was consistent across treatment conditions, whereas S-EBA lost strength when exposed to NaOCl, SPB+S, or SPB+SO. Exposure to SPB+S had the greatest effect on all 3 materials.

CONCLUSIONS: IRM performed consistently as a perforation repair material despite exposure to oxidizing agents, whereas MTA was less resistant to dislodgement than either IRM or S-EBA and was more affected than IRM by sodium perborate-containing bleaching solutions.