Yazd Journal of Dental Research

Introduction: Remaining of previous filling materials on the root canal walls can be stated as one of the reasons for retreatment failure. Chemical solvents are used for better  removal of the remaining materials. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two solvents including Carvene and Chloroform in retreatment of root canals filled with Gutta-percha.

Methods: In this experimental in vitro study, 50 extracted human anterior teeth were prepared using step back technique and filled with Gutta-percha and AH26 using lateral condensation method. The teeth were divided into two groups of 25 and were retreated with Carvene and Chloroform. Bucco-lingual sections were prepared, the degree of remnant materials was evaluated by stereomicroscope and digital images were obtained. The amounts of Gutta-percha and sealer debris remnants on the one-third of the apical, middle and coronal areas of root canal were seperately calculated by Matlab software. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software (ver 16) applying t-test.

Results: As the study results indicated, no statistically significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in regard with amount of the remained material between the two groups in one-third of the apical, middle and coronal. The mean of retreatment time for Chloroform and Carvene was 8.3 and 4 minutes respectively, which the difference was held to be statistically significant (P=0.000).

Conclusion: Although the chemical solvents (Chloroform and Carvene) were demonstrated to be similar in removing the Gutta-percha and sealer, Chloroform performed this action in a shorter period of time.