title: Application of microcomputed tomography for quantitative analysis of dental root canal obturations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the study was to apply microcomputed tomography to quantitative evaluation of voids and to test any specific location of voids in tooth's root canal obturations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty root canals were prepared and obturated with gutta-percha and Tubli-Seal sealer using the thermoplastic compaction method (System B+Obtura II). Roots were scanned and three-dimensional visualization was obtained. The volume and Feret's diameter of I-voids (at the filling/dentine interface) and S-voids (surrounded by filling material) were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results revealed that none of the scanned root canal fillings were void-free. For I-voids, the volume fraction was significantly larger, but their number was lower (P=0.0007), than for S-voids. Both types of voids occurred in characteristic regions (P<0.001). I-voids occurred mainly in the apical third, while S-voids in the coronal third of the canal filling.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Within the limitations of this study, our results indicate that microtomography, with proposed semi-automatic algorithm, is a useful tools for three-dimensional quantitative evaluation of dental root canal fillings. In canals filled with thermoplastic gutta-percha and Tubli-Seal, voids at the interface between the filling and canal dentine deserve special attention due to of their periapical location, which might promote apical microleakage. Further studies might help to elucidate the clinical relevance of these results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry Propaedeutics, Medical University of Bialystok.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kierklo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Teleinformatics, Cracow University of Technology.
authors.forename: Zbisław
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tabor
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Informatics, Cracow University of Technology.
authors.forename: Rafał
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Petryniak
authors.affiliation: Department of Geophysics for Drilling, The Oil and Gas Institute, Cracow.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dohnalik
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry Propaedeutics, Medical University of Bialystok.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jaworska
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003763:Dental Leakage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003786:Dental Pulp Cavity / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006171:Gutta-Percha / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D012387:Root Canal Filling Materials / Q000032:analysis*; D012389:Root Canal Obturation; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography / Q000379:methods*; D015035:Zinc Oxide-Eugenol Cement / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D012387:Root Canal Filling Materials; D015035:Zinc Oxide-Eugenol Cement; C113130:obtura II; C048769:tubliseal; D006171:Gutta-Percha