Resumo

LIMA, Thiago Farias Rocha; SOARES, Adriana de Jesus  e  SOUZA-FILHO, Francisco Jose de. Morphological evaluation of the apical foramen after shaping root canals with two rotatory systems. Rev. Assoc. Paul. Cir. Dent. [online]. 2012, vol.66, n.4, pp. 272-277. ISSN 0004-5276.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the morphological changes of the apical foramen after endodontic treatment of curved canals with different rotary systems employing the foraminal patency and expansion. Twenty mesial and distal human maxillary molars roots of 12mm length and about 5 degrees of curvature according to Schneider’s method were selected. The specimens were divided into two groups: group 1, root canals prepared by the Pro design® files sequence attached to the Easy Endo Slim ® System; group 2, root canals instrumented by Mtwo ® files sequence with the Mtwo® System. The working length at both groups was set at 1mm beyond the apical foramen. Images before and after preparation were obtained by SEM and analyzed by the Image Manager (Leica IM50). The mean area at G1 was 0.007 mm2 before and 0.115 mm2 after instrumentation. At G2, these mean values were 0.093 mm2 and 0.183 mm2, respectively. In both groups, the t-student test showed statistical difference at foramen size before and after preparation (p <0.005). At independent t-student test (p = 0.011) the increase of the foramen size was statistically higher in G2 than G1. Only 20% of cases showed irregular foramen shapes after instrumentation. Independently of the rotatory files sequence used in this study the foraminal enlargement in endodontic preparation of smoothly curved canals allowed an apical regular shape in mostly of cases.

Palavras-chave : tooth apex; endodontics; root canal preparation.