In vitro evaluation of filling of lateral root canals with different filling materials by using digital radiography

purpose: to evaluate the ability of different endodontic systems to fill simulated lateral canals using resources of digital radiography. methods: seventy extracted single-rooted human teeth were selected, the coronal access was performed, and the working length was established 1 mm short of the foramen. two lateral canals were created, one in the middle third and one at the apical third, in each root canal. after chemo-mechanical preparation the teeth were divided into 7 groups (n=10) according to the filling material used: g1 epiphany, g2 ah plus, g3 endorez, g4 endofill, g5 endomethasone, g6 sealapex and g7 sealer 26. in the g1 epiphany system, resilon cones were used. in all other groups gutta-percha cones were used. after seven days of storage, digital radiographs were taken to assess the results. the program dbswin measured the total length, in mm, of each lateral canal and the length, in mm, that each filling system was able to obturate the canals. data were analyzed by anova and tukey's test at the 5% significance level. results: the filling system sealer 26/gutta-percha showed less capacity to fill lateral canals than the other filling systems tested (p<0.05); statistical analysis revealed no statistically significant difference in the ability to fill lateral canals between the other groups (p>0.05). conclusion: the system sealer 26/gutta-percha was less effective in the filling of simulated lateral canals.