Water sorption and solubility of methacrylate resin - based root canal sealers

The water sorption and solubility characteristics of three contemporary methacrylate resin-based endodontic sealers, EndoREZ, Epiphany, and InnoEndo, were compared with those obtained from Kerr EWT, Ketac-Endo (positive control), GuttaFlow, and AH Plus (both negative controls). Ten disks of each material were dehydrated in Drierite for 24 h and weighed to constant dry mass. They were placed in water and weighed periodically until maximum water sorption was obtained. The disks were dehydrated again to determine their mass loss (solubility) at equilibrium. Epiphany exhibited the highest apparent water sorption (8%) followed by Ketac-Endo (6.2%), InnoEndo (3.4%), EndoREZ (3.0%), AH Plus (1.1%), GuttaFlow (0.4%), and Kerr EWT (0.3%). Significantly higher solubility (3.5-4%) were observed for all three methacrylate resin-based sealers and Kerr EWT (3.95%), compared with Ketac-Endo (1.6%), AH Plus (0.16%), and GuttaFlow (0.13%). American Dental Association specifications require <3% solubility for endodontic sealers. Only Ketac-Endo, AH Plus, and GuttaFlow met that criterion.