POLYTETRAFLUOROETYLENE TAPE AS TEMPORARY RESTORATIVE MATERIAL: A FLUID FILTRATION STUDY

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the sealing ability of temporary restorative materials at 24 hrs and 1 week. Materials and Methods: Endodontic access cavities were prepared in 56 extracted lower incisor-teeth and divided into 5 groups (n=10). Standard 5 mm deep access preparations were completed and root canals were prepared to size ISO #30 file. The access cavities were restored as follows: Group 1: temporary restorative material (Ceivitron); Group 2: glass ionomer cement (Fuji II); Group 3: zinc oxide-eugenol cement (IRM); Group 4: zinc phosphate cement (Adhesor); Group 5: polytetrafluoroetylene tape (PTFE). The quality of the coronal sealing of each specimen was measured (24 hrs and 1 week) using fluid transport model. The data was analysed with repeated measurements of ANO VA, Tukey, Paired samples T-Tests. Results: A significant difference was found among the groups at all time-periods (p 0.05). At 24 hrs, PTFE showed similar leakage with Ceivitron, IRM, and Fuji II but it showed higher leakage than Adhesor. At 1 week, Ceivitron showed higher leakage than PTFE, meanwhile PTFE showed similar leakage with IRM, Fuji II, and Adhesor (p 0.05). Sealing ability of IRM and PTFE groups significantly increased by time (p 0.05 and p 0.001 respectively). Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, PTFE showed an acceptable short-term sealing capability when compared to the other commonly used temporary restorative materials at 1 week measurements.