Effect of sodium hypochlorite irrigation with or without surfactants on the bond strength of an epoxy-based sealer to dentin

This study evaluated the effect of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) irrigation with or without surfactants on the bond strength of an epoxy-based sealer to the root canal dentin. Eighty decoronated single-rooted human mandibular premolars were instrumented using the rotary system. The roots were subsequently rinsed with 5 ml 17 % EDTA for 1 min and then randomly divided into 3 test groups (n = 20) and 1 control group (n = 20) according to the type of irrigation with experimental 5 % NaOCl (Wizard, RehberKimya, Istanbul, Turkey) solutions: Group 1: NaOCl-0.1 % benzalkonium chloride; Group 2: NaOCl-0.1 % Tween 80; Group 3: NaOCl-0.1 % Triton X-100; control group: NaOCl without any surfactants. Five samples from each group were prepared for scanning electron microscopy to examine the surface of root canal dentin. The 15 samples remaining in each group were obturated with gutta-percha and AH Plus (Dentsply DeTrey GmbH, Konstanz, Germany) using the cold lateral compaction technique. A push-out test was used to measure the bond strength between the sealer and root canal dentin. Data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc tests (P = 0.05). The NaOCl-0.1 % Triton X-100 group demonstrated the highest mean bond-strength values in all root thirds among the groups (P < 0.05). However, the bond strength of the sealer in the NaOCl-0.1 % benzalkonium chloride and NaOCl-0.1 % Tween 80 groups did not differ from that in the control group (P > 0.05). Additionally, the bond-strength values decreased in the corono-apical direction for all groups (P < 0.05). NaOCl solution with Triton X-100 can provide higher bond strength of the epoxy resin-based sealer to root dentin compared to NaOCl solution wiithout any surfactant. The bond strength of sealer to dentin can be improved by the addition of the surfactants to NaOCl solution.