ABSTRACT
Introduction and objective: The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the cleaning and shaping efficacy of rotary nickel-titanium ProTaper® instrumentation in oval canals and the influence of ultrasonic irrigation on the final refinement. Material and methods: Twenty mandibular molars were accessed and divided in two groups. Only distal roots with oval canals were used. Group I was instrumented using only rotary nickel-titanium ProTaper® instruments. Group II received the same preparation followed by refinement with 3 minutes of ultrasonic passive irrigation. After preparation, the distal roots were sectioned for histological processing. Coronal, middle and apical thirds were analyzed. Uninstrumented perimeter in each third was measured by the software Image tool 3.0. Results: The percentage of uninstrumented perimeter was calculated for each third of each root and average percentage was calculated for each third in both groups. Statistical analysis was performed with t-test through the software SPSS 11.0.1 for Windows. The level of significance was set at 1%. Group I showed higher percentage of uninstrumented perimeter in all thirds. Group II, which received ultrasonic irrigation showed better results in all thirds (p < 0.01). Comparing the three thirds in the same group, no statistically significant differences were found (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Under the conditions of this ex vivo study, the three minutes use of ultrasonic irrigation after rotary instrumentation resulted in significantly more instrumented walls in the distal roots of mandibular molars.