Root canal filling sealers

A number of features have been identified that should be present in an ideal root canal filling material, both sealers and materials for points. They are that these materials should be ... 

Dental root treatment commonly comprises removal of the necrotic pulp or its remnants, cleaning, widening, and sterilization of the root canal, and filling of the prepared canal with core and sealing materials. Popular core materials are silver, gutta-percha, and silicon rubber points, and these are sealed in place by a cement sealer. 

The root canal sealers based on silicone are a variation on the addition-polymerized silicone used clinically as an impression material [62]. They have been modified to improve their flow, but their essential chemistry is the same. They consist of two-paste systems comprising a base and a catalyst paste. The silicone components are a polydimethylsiloxane polymer blended with paraffin oil and filled with finely divided zirconium dioxide. This latter substance both reinforces the set silicone material and confers radiopacity. 

These biological findings suggest that these resin-based endodontic sealers are acceptable for clinical use, a result that has been confirmed by clinical evaluations [86-88]. In one 5-year smdy involving 129 patients, results showed that root canals were adequately filled in 76.66% of cases (92) and were short in 10.83% (13) of cases. In 15 cases (12.50%), there was evidence of slight resorption of the sealer at the apex within the lumen of the root canal. These clinical results show that resin-based sealers compare well with sealers based on other types of material, and that they are satisfactory for use in endodontics [48,89],... 

J.V. Barbizam, M. Souza, D. Cecchin, J. Dabbel, Effectiveness of a silicon-based root canal sealer for filling of simulated lateral canals, Braz. Dent. J. 18 (2007) 20-23. 

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