Sealing Ability of TheraCal in Furcal Perforations in Primary Molars: An in-vitro Study

Objective: The current in-vitro study aimed for the evaluation of sealing ability of TheraCal LC material when used as furcation repair material in primary molars, compared to the gold standard MTA material.Materials and Methods: 45 restorable human mandibular primary molars were allocated into two equal main groups (n=20) based on material used for furcal perforation (FP) repair; Group (1): repaired with premixed MTA material (NeoPUTTY), and Group (2): repaired with TheraCal LC. Group (3): included the five remaining teeth as negative control group with no FP. After restoration of access cavities with composite resin material, the teeth roots were immersed in 1% methylene blue dye solution for 72 h. After that, mounted teeth underwent a mesiodistal sectioning in a vertical direction. For microleakage assessment, the dye penetration method with stereomicroscopy followed by SEM were used. Results: The mean values of dye penetration extent along dentinal walls were 1.30 ± 0.32 mm, 1.80 ± 0.32 mm and 0.11 ± 0.07 mm for groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively, with statistically significant difference. Although group 2 showed the highest value, a statistically non-significant difference was observed between tested groups regarding microleakage gap width.Conclusions: NeoPUTTY MTA material has a significantly positive influence on the sealing ability when utilized as a furcation repair material in primary molars. TheraCal LC material failed to alternate the MTA for FP repair in primary molars as it has a poor sealing ability.