Analysis of apical fitting of .06 and .02 tapered gutta-percha master cones in root canals shaped with ProTaper rotary system

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The fitting of gutta-percha master cone is important for the obturation step. The modified single-cone technique using larger taper has provided better filling of gutta-percha than the original single-cone technique. Objective: The aim of this study was to verify if either .02 or .06 tapered gutta-percha master cone would better fit into the working length of teeth shaped using ProTaper rotary system. Material and methods: Thirty distobuccal root canals of mandibular molars were shaped using F2 ProTaper, and size 40, 35, 30 and 25 0.6 or 0.2 tapered gutta-percha cones were tested. The best fitting into the working length was recorded. The data were gathered and compared with size 25 by using Fisher's exact test. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between groups (p = 0.4915). Sizes 30 and 35 were the most used. Conclusion: It can be concluded that both .02 and .06 tapered gutta-percha master cones showed best fitting in sizes larger than 0.25 mm in root canals shaped with ProTaper F2.