Influence of root canal sealer on the radiographic appearance of filling voids in maxillary single-rooted teeth

Objective: this study compared the influence of three epoxy resin-based sealers with distinct radiopacities on the observers' ability to detect root canal filling voids during radiographic analysis. material and methods: the root canals of 48 extracted maxillary canines were prepared and divided into three groups. each group was laterally condensed with one sealer (ah plus®,acroseal® or a non-radiopaque sealer),and a longitudinal void was simulated in half of the specimens from each group (n=8). buccolingual radiographs were obtained and randomly interpreted for voids by a radiologist and an endodontist in a blinded fashion. teeth were cut and inspected under a microscope to confirm the position of void. differences in sensitivity and specificity between groups and examiners were compared using the fisher's exact and mcnemar tests,respectively (α=0.05). results: significantly lower sensitivity levels (p<0.05) were observed in the coronal portion of fillings performed with both radiopaque sealers. specificity values for acroseal® were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the coronal and apical portions of fillings. conclusions: the type of root canal sealer can affect the observers' ability to detect root canal filling voids during radiographic analysis of upper single-rooted teeth.