Background: Root canal therapy is one of the common dental procedures performed these days. The success of endodontic therapy is directly related to the sealing of the root canal system, by means of a three-dimensional hermetic endodontic filling. A variety of techniques have been developed to provide the proper adaptation of the gutta-percha root canal walls, aiming the complete filling of the root canal system. Hence; we planned the present study to evaluate and compare the efficacy and sealing ability of Lateral condensation, Obtura II, and GuttaFlow obturation techniques in patients undergoing root canal therapy. Materials & methods: The present study included assessment of 30 freshly extracted maxillary central incisors with intact crowns. All the teeth samples were divided broadly into three study groups; Group I: Teeth specimen obturated with Lateral condensation technique, Group II: Teeth specimen obturated with Obtura II technique and, Group III: Teeth specimen obturated with GuttaFlow technique The teeth were stored in distilled water during the entire study. Conventional access cavities to the pulp chamber were prepared. Obturation was done in all the three groups following techniques assigned to their respective groups. Sectioning of the root was done at different levels and following parameters were assessed: Area of voids (AV), Number of sections with voids and the area of voids was calculated as a percentage of the canal area in the sections. All the results were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: No. of sections observed in group I, II and III were 15, 9 and 25 respectively. The mean area of voids was found to be 1.6142, 1.0222 and 2.9325 respectively. Significant results were obtained while comparing the percentage frequency of voids in between the three study groups. Conclusion: in comparison to the other two study groups, the best adaptation with less number of voids was exhibited by Obtura II techniques.
Key words: Gutta Flow, Lateral, Obturation,