ABSTRACT
Objective: Present in?vitro study aimed to evaluate the apical leakage of different bioceramic retrofilling materials with and without smear layer. Materials and Methods: Sixty human single?rooted teeth were decoronated at a standardized root length of 13 mm, chemo?mechanically prepared and obturated. After obturation, root?end resection was done and root?end cavities were prepared using ultrasonic tips. The specimens with prepared retro cavities were randomly assigned into 2 groups (n = 30) based on the smear layer removal protocol used. Each group was further subdivided into 3 subgroups (n = 10) based on the bioceramic retrofilling material MTA (Mineral Trioxide Aggregate; Proroot Dentsply/Tulsa), CEM (Calcium?Enriched Mixture; Bionique Dent, Tehran) and ERRM (EndoSequence® Root Repair Material; Brasseler USA, Savannah, GA). The extension of dye (2% Rhodamine B) penetration was measured in millimetre using a stereomicroscope at 10× zoom. Results were statistically analysed using one?way ANOVA (analysis of variance) test and unpaired Student’s t test. Results: In the presence of smear layer, MTA demonstrated maximum mean apical leakage value (1.70 ± 0.30), followed by CEM (1.40 ± 0.37) and ERRM (1.40 ± 0.23), which was statistically not significant. Without the smear layer, ERRM demonstrated the least mean apical leakage value, which was statistically significant as compared with CEM (P <.05) and MTA ( P <.01). Conclusion(s): All bioceramic retrofilling materials demonstrated apical leakage irrespective of the presence or absence of the smear layer. The presence of a smear layer is beneficial for the sealing ab