The effectiveness of continuous versus sequential chelation in the removal of smear layer and their influence on push-out bond strength of Bio-C sealer (An in vitro study)

Objectives: Successful endodontic treatment outcome requires effective shaping and cleaning of root canals. This study aims to evaluate the smear layer removal after continuous chelation (CC) ) NaOCL\HEDP( and sequential chelation (SC) )NaOCL\EDTA( and their influence on the push-out bond strength (POBS) of Bio-C sealer. Materials and Methods: Palatal roots of the maxillary first molar (n=72) were divided into four groups (n=18) as follows: 3% NaOCL, SC: 3% NaOCL followed by 17% EDTA, CC: 3% NaOCL \9% HEDP and Distilled water. Thirty-two roots (n=8/group) were split longitudinally for smear layer evaluation using SEM. Forty roots were obturated with Guttapercha and Bio-C sealer using a single cone technique. Three sections were taken horizontally from the coronal, middle, and apical third (1.5±0.1 mm thickness) for the push-out test using a universal testing machine. The Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze the SEM data, while the One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and the Tukey test were used to analyze POBS data. Z test to compare failure mode. Results: There was no difference between SC and CC in the smear layer removal at all thirds (p>0.05). The POBS in CC was significantly higher than SC in all thirds (p