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SCANNING VOL.

36, 640–647 (2014)


© Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effectiveness of Various Irrigation Activation Protocols and the


Self-Adjusting File System on Smear Layer and Debris Removal
İSMAIL DAVUT ÇAPAR1 AND HALE ARI AYDINBELGE2
1
Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir, Turkey
2
Department of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Selçuk University, Konya, Turkey

Summary: The purpose of the present study is to compared to rotary instrumentation. None of the
evaluate smear layer generation and residual debris after techniques completely removed the smear layer from
using self-adjusting file (SAF) or rotary instrumentation the root canal walls. SCANNING 36:640–647, 2014.
and to compare the debris and smear layer removal © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
efficacy of the SAF cleaning/shaping irrigation system
against final agitation techniques. One hundred and Key words: CanalBrush, EndoActivator, EndoVac,
eight maxillary lateral incisor teeth were randomly passive ultrasonic irrigation, self-adjusting file
divided into nine experimental groups (n ¼ 12), and root
canals were prepared using ProTaper Universal rotary
files, with the exception of the SAF instrumentation Introduction
group. During instrumentation, root canals were
irrigated with a total of 16 mL of 5% NaOCl. For final Removal of vital and necrotic pulp tissue, micro-
irrigation, rotary-instrumented groups were irrigated organisms, and their toxins from the root canal system is
with 10 mL of 17% EDTA and 10 mL of 5% NaOCl critical for successful root canal therapy (Basmadjian-
using different irrigation agitation regimens (syringe Charles et al., 2002; Wong, 2004; Siqueira and
irrigation with needles, NaviTip FX, manual dynamic Rocas, 2008). Micro-computed tomography technology
irrigation, CanalBrush, EndoActivator, EndoVac, pas- has shown that current Ni–Ti rotary systems lead
sive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI), and SAF irrigation). to untreated dentin areas (Peters et al., 2001; Paque
In the SAF instrumentation group, root canals were et al., 2009; Paque et al., 2010). Traditional syringes
instrumented for 4 min at a rate of 4 mL/min with 5% and metal needles of varying size and tip design
NaOCl and received a final flush with same as syringe have delivered irrigants into the root canal space, but
irrigation with needles. The surface of the root dentin because of the complexity of the root canal, there may be
was observed using a scanning electron microscope. The untreated areas requiring cleaning following irrigation
SAF instrumentation group generated less smear layer (Williamson et al., 2009). Therefore, several mechanical
and yielded cleaner canals compared to rotary instru- devices and techniques have been developed to further
mentation. The EndoActivator, EndoVac, PUI, and SAF improve the penetration and effectiveness of irrigation.
irrigation groups increased the efficacy of irrigating Devices and techniques for irrigation are classified as
solutions on the smear layer and debris removal. The either manual or machine assisted (Gu et al., 2009).
SAF instrumentation yielded cleaner canal walls when Repeated insertion of gutta-percha master cones into
the working length (WL), a technique called manual
dynamic irrigation (MDI), and the NaviTip FX (Ultra-
Contract grant sponsor: Scientific Research Projects Coordination dent Products, Inc., South Jordan, UT) are used for
Center of Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey; Contract grant number: manual agitation of irrigants. MDI is a simple technique
11102018.
Conflicts of interest: None.
and requires no additional devices (Susin et al., 2010).
Address of reprints: İsmail Davut Çapar, Department of Endodontics, The NaviTip FX is a brush-covered irrigation needle
Faculty of Dentistry, İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Izmir 35620, Turkey designed for scrubbing the canal walls and agitating
E-mail: capardt@hotmail.com the irrigation solution (Gu et al., 2009). Rotary brushes
Received 16 July 2014; revised 27 August 2014; Accepted with are machine-assisted techniques for agitation that
revision 10 September 2014 can also be used manually and sonically (Salman
DOI: 10.1002/sca.21171
et al., 2010). Among them, the CanalBrush (Coltene
Published online 6 October 2014 in Wiley Online Library Whaledent, Langenau, Germany) is molded entirely
(wileyonlinelibrary.com). from polypropylene, which explains its high flexibility
İ. D. Çapar and H. Ari Aydinbelge: Smear Layer Removal 641
(Gu et al., 2009). The EndoActivator system (Dentsply instrumentation. The null hypotheses were that there
Tulsa Dental Specialties, Tulsa, OK) uses sonic energy would be no differences among the various irrigation
with a flexible non-cutting polymer tip attached to a activation protocols in terms of root canal cleanliness,
vibrating handpiece. The EndoVac system (Discus and there would be no differences between SAF and
Dental, Culver City, CA) is an apical negative pressure rotary instrumentation in terms of smear layer formation
(ANP) irrigation device designed to deliver irrigating and residual debris.
solutions to the apical portion of the canal system
and suction out debris (Schoeffel, 2008). Continuous
passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI) uses an ultrasonically Materials and Methods
activated file inside the root canal with a continuous
irrigant supply from the handpiece. However, the use of One hundred and eight maxillary lateral incisors with
ultrasonic irrigation agitation may cause canal devia- single roots and round root canals were selected and
tion, apical zipping, and even root perforation, due to the stored in distilled water at room temperature until use.
potential for continued prepping or cutting of the canal Teeth with previous root canal treatment, had a fractured
walls (Klyn et al., 2010). root, or were incompletely developed were excluded.
Root canal instrumentation generates the smear layer The selected teeth were decoronated, and the WL
that may also contain bacteria and their by-products. was determined by using a size 15 K-file (Mani, Inc.,
This layer can prevent the penetration of intracanal Utsunomiya, Japan) pushed through the apex and pulled
medicaments into dentinal tubules (Violich and back until the tip was flush with the root surface and
Chandler, 2010). It has also been shown that eliminating subtracting 1 mm. The root apices were covered with
the smear layer could increase the success of obturation a wax (Cavex set up regular, Cavex, Haarlem, the
(Taylor et al., ’97). Netherlands) to prevent the irrigants from passing freely
The self-adjusting file system (SAF) system (Re- through the apical foramen during the irrigation
Dent-Nova, Ra’nana, Israel) was introduced to achieve procedure. The roots were randomly divided into
complete three-dimensional root canal shaping, clean- nine experimental groups (n ¼ 12). One group was
ing, and irrigation. It allows for continuous irrigation instrumented with SAF, and the other groups were
during preparation and has beneficial effects for instrumented with ProTaper Universal rotary files up
activating final irrigation once the canal preparation to size F4 instrument in the same manner (Dentsply,
has been completed (Metzger et al., 2010b). The SAF Maillefer, Ballagiues, Switzerland).
system is operated by vibrating a slightly abrasive lattice
using an in-and-out motion to remove dentin (Hof
et al., 2010). The continuous flow of the irrigating SAF Instrumentation þ >Conventional Syringe
solution through the file, combined with the vibrating Irrigation (CSI)
motion, may have an effect on the cleaning ability of the
file (Metzger et al., 2010a). Metzger et al. (2010a) The SAF system was used with an in-and-out
showed that using the SAF system combined with vibrating handpiece, combined with an RDT3 head
NaOCl and EDTA resulted in a dentinal surface mostly (ReDent-Nova, Ra’nana, Israel), at a frequency of 5,000
free of a smear layer in all parts of the root canal. Several movements per minute and amplitude of 0.4 mm.
recent studies have shown that the use of the SAF Irrigation with 5% NaOCl was applied through the
cleaning/shaping system enhanced the removal of hollow file throughout the 4 min of operation. The
calcium hydroxide medicament from the artificial irrigant was continuously provided by a VATEA
groove models (Capar et al., 2013), residual gutta- peristaltic pump (ReDent-Nova, Ra’nana, Israel), at a
percha after retreatment (Abramovitz et al., 2012), rate of 4 mL per minute. After instrumentation, the
and biofilm bacteria from within the artificial groove canals were irrigated with 2 mL of distilled water, and
models (Lin et al., 2013), as well as increased pulp then 10 mL of 17% of EDTA was flushed into the canal
tissue debridement (De-Deus et al., 2011) and the bond with an in-and-out motion using the 27-gauge conven-
strength of root fillings (De-Deus et al., 2013). tional needle and syringe and left in place for 1 min per
To the best of our knowledge, there are no data in the canal. All canals were then flushed with 10 mL of
literature comparing the SAF system with irrigation NaOCl, which was left in place for 1 min per canal.
agitation systems for smear layer removal. Thus, the aim
of the present study was to compare the SAF cleaning/
shaping irrigation system against final agitation techni- ProTaper Instrumentation (PI) þ CSI
ques (i.e., conventional syringe irrigation with needles,
NaviTip FX, and MDI, CanalBrush, EndoActivator, Root canals were prepared to size F4 of the ProTaper
EndoVac, and PUI), in terms of removing the smear instrument using the following sequence: SX, S1, S2,
layer and debris, as well as to evaluate smear layer F1, F2, F3, and F4. During instrumentation, root canals
formation and residual debris after using SAF or rotary were irrigated with a total of 16 mL of 5% NaOCl. After
642 SCANNING VOL. 36, 6 (2014)

the last instrument, the canals were irrigated with 2 mL continuously delivered at a rate of 10 mL per minute
of distilled water followed by varied irrigant agitation through the unit. Sequentially, 10 mL of NaOCl was
protocols as described below. activated using the same method for 1 min.
To compare root canal debridement and smear layer
formation after use of SAF and rotary instrumentation,
root canals were irrigated in the same manner as the SAF PI þ EndoActivator
instrumentation group, using the 27-gauge conventional
needle and syringe. 10 mL of EDTA was flushed into the Ten milliliter of EDTA was flushed into the canal
canal with an in-and-out motion and left in place for using the 27-gauge conventional needle and syringe and
1 min per canal. All canals were then flushed with 10 mL activated using the EndoActivator handpiece set at
of NaOCl, which was left in place for 1 min per canal. 10,000 cycles per minute, with a red (25/04) tip inserted
2 mm short of the WL for 1 min. The canals were then
flushed with 10 mL of NaOCl and activated using the
PI þ NaviTip FX (NFX) same method for 1 min.

Ten milliliter of EDTA was flushed into the canal


with the brush-covered 30-gauge NaviTip FX needle PI þ EndoVac
using 45˚ clockwise and counter-clockwise movements
combined with back-and-forth strokes, for 1 min per The canals were first irrigated for 30 s with 2.5 mL
canal. Ten milliliter of NaOCl was activated using the NaOCl using macro-cannulas. Canals were then
same method for 1 min. irrigated for three cycles using micro-cannulas inserted
into the full WL. The first cycle was 30 s of 2.5 mL
NaOCl followed by 30 s of soaking; the second cycle
PI þ Manual Dynamic Irrigation (MDI) was 1 min of 10 mL of EDTA followed by 1 min of
soaking; and the third cycle was 1 min of 5 mL NaOCl
Ten milliliter of EDTA was flushed into the canal followed by 1 min of soaking.
using the 27-gauge conventional needle and syringe.
This solution was activated by using a number F4 gutta-
percha cone (Dentsply, Maillefer) for 1 min in each
canal. The frequency of activation was 100 push-pull PI þ SAF Irrigation
strokes per minute. The canals were then flushed with
10 mL of NaOCl and activated using the same method The SAF file was operated in two cycles of 2 min
for 1 min. each, for a total of 4 min, at a rate of 5 mL per minute.
During the first minute of each cycle, NaOCl was used as
the irrigant, whereas EDTA was used during the second
minute. A total of 10 mL EDTA and 10 mL NaOCl
PI þ CanalBrush (CB)
was used as the final irrigation in all groups. After final
irrigation, all specimens were irrigated with 2.5 mL
Ten milliliter of EDTA was flushed into the canal
of distilled water to remove any remaining irrigation
using the 27-gauge conventional needle and syringe and
solution.
activated using a CanalBrush operated on a contra angle
For the scanning electron microscope (SEM)
slow-speed handpiece at 600 rpm for 1 min. The brush
examination, the access openings of the canal were
was used on the full WL with a gentle up-and-down
sealed with a temporary filling material (Cavit G; 3M
motion. The canals were then flushed with 10 mL of
Espe, Seefeld, Germany) to prevent any debris from
NaOCl and activated using the same method for 1 min.
getting into the canal. In addition, all roots were grooved
longitudinally on the buccal and lingual surfaces using a
diamond disk under copious water irrigation, avoiding
PI þ Continuous PUI penetration into the root canal. The roots were then split
into two halves with a small chisel. Specimens were
Ten milliliter of EDTA was agitated using a size dried at 50˚C in an incubator (Nüve Incubator EN 120;
15 K-file (Acteon Group, Merignac, France) coupled to Ankara, Turkey) for 24 h. After sputter coating the

the file-holding adapter of the handpiece of a Satalec P5 specimens with gold to a thickness of 90 A, the surface
Newtron XS ultrasonic system (Acteon Group). The of the root dentin was observed using an SEM (Evo
ultrasonic file was placed into the canal 1 mm short of LS10; Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany). The areas of
the WL without touching the walls, enabling it to interest for each canal third of each specimen were
vibrate freely. The ultrasonic file was activated at the selected at 2, 5, and 8 mm from the root apex, and
sixth power setting for 1 min, and the irrigants were magnifications of 200 and 1,000 were used to
İ. D. Çapar and H. Ari Aydinbelge: Smear Layer Removal 643
evaluate the removal of debris and the smear layer, technique. The testing was performed at the 95% level
respectively. Two calibrated and blinded independent of confidence (p < 0.05). Cohen’s kappa coefficient was
evaluators examined the SEM micrographs. Images used to calculate inter-reproducibility.
were divided into 100 frames with Adobe Photoshop
CS4 for counting the number of debris- and smear layer-
covered areas. The scoring system of Parente et al. Results
(2010) was modified as follows:
The inter-examiner agreement was 95% for the smear
 Score 1: No smear layer or 5%, and most tubules layer and 94% for debris removal (kappa test). Figure 1
are patent. presents the distribution of scores for removing debris and
 Score 2: Smear layer is evident in >5% to 35%; the smear layer, based on the irrigant agitation protocols.
when identified, dentinal tubule orifices may be Debris and smear layer removal in the root canal
reduced in their dimensions, owing to partial or thirds for all groups are shown in Figures 2 and 3.
complete occlusion by debris.
 Score 3: Smear layer is evident in >35% to 65% of
the canal surface. Comparison Between Instrumentation Groups
 Score 4: Smear layer is evident in >65% to 95% of
the canal surface. The SAF instrumentation group presented signifi-
 Score 5: Smear layer covering >95% to 100% of cantly lower scores than the ProTaper instrumentation
the canal surface. with CSI for debris and smear layer removal (p < 0.05),
which means that the rotary instrumentation technique
Debris on the canal wall was evaluated using the generated more smear layer and left more debris in
following scoring system: the canal than the SAF instrumentation. Comparing
instrumentation groups at each root canal third revealed
 Score 1: Clean root canal or only a few small debris that the SAF instrumentation group had lower amounts
particles in 5%. of debris and smear layer at the apical third (p < 0.05).
 Score 2: Clumps of debris covering >5–35% of the At the middle third, the SAF instrumentation group
canal wall. generated less smear layer than the rotary instrumenta-
 Score 3: Clumps of debris covering >35–65% of tion group (p < 0.05), and there was no significant
the canal wall. difference between groups with respect to debris
 Score 4: Clumps of debris covering >65–95% of removal (p > 0.05). At the coronal third, there was no
the canal wall. significant difference between the groups (p > 0.05).
 Score 5: More than 95% of canal wall covered by
debris.
Comparison Between Irrigation Groups With Respect
Statistical analyses of the data were performed using to Debris Removal
the Kruskal–Wallis test and the Bonferroni-adjusted
Mann–Whitney U test. To compare the irrigation The CSI and NFX systems showed significantly
groups, the data for the PI þ CSI were used as the CSI higher scores (p < 0.05) than the other irrigation

Fig 1. Comparison of dentinal surfaces among groups based on debris and smear layer scores.
644 SCANNING VOL. 36, 6 (2014)

Fig 2. Representative SEM micrographs (200 magnification) Fig 3. Representative SEM micrographs (1,000 magnifica-
taken from canal thirds of root canals to evaluate debris removal. tion) taken from all canal thirds of root canals to evaluate smear
In the apical third, rotary instrumentation with the CSI, and NFX, removal. In the apical third, ProTaper instrumentation with CSI,
MDI, and EA groups showed small debris particles, whereas the and the NFX, CB, and MDI groups showed a thick smear layer
CB, EV, PUI, SAF instrumentation, and SAF irrigation groups covering nearly all of the canal walls; the EA and EV groups
showed no debris. In the middle third, all groups showed clean showed some dentinal tubules open and others covered by a thin
canal surfaces. In the coronal third, the MDI group showed small smear layer; the PUI, SAF irrigation, and SAF instrumentation
debris particles and the other groups showed clean canal surfaces. groups showed small amounts of smear layer and dentinal tubules
SEM micrographs of the apical and coronal third for the PUI open. In the middle third, ProTaper instrumentation with CSI, and
group showed damage to the root canal wall due to contact by the the NFX, MDI, CB, and EA groups showed small amounts of
ultrasonic files. smear layer and some dentinal tubules open; the EV, PUI, SAF
instrumentation, and SAF irrigation groups showed most of the
dentinal tubules open and no smear layer. In the coronal third,
ProTaper instrumentation with the CSI, NFX, MDI, SAF
agitation protocols (except for the CB group), which instrumentation, and SAF irrigation groups showed small
means that these techniques left more debris in the canal amounts of smear layer and some dentinal tubules open; the
than the other techniques. Comparing debris removal at CB, EA, EV, and PUI groups showed clean canal surfaces with
patent dentinal tubules.
each root canal third revealed that the MDI, EV, PUI,
and SAF irrigation systems had the least amount of
debris at the apical third, with no significant difference
İ. D. Çapar and H. Ari Aydinbelge: Smear Layer Removal 645
among them. The CSI and NFX systems had the highest could be used as an irrigation agitation device. The
debris score, with no significant difference between scrubbing motion of the SAF file and continuous
them. At the middle third, SAF irrigation and EV irrigation during preparation seem to play a major role
showed a statistically lower score than NFX. At the in the efficacy of debris and smear layer removal.
coronal third, there was no significant difference among Among the irrigation agitation protocols evaluated,
the groups (p > 0.05). the CSI and NFX groups had significantly higher debris
scores (i.e., more debris left in the canal) than the EA,
EV, PUI, and SAF irrigation groups. Therefore, the null
Comparison Between Irrigation Groups With Respect hypothesis that there would be no differences among
to Smear Layer Removal the various irrigation activation protocols in terms of
root canal cleanliness can be rejected. These results
The PUI system presented significantly lower scores are compatible with results of previous studies (Lee
than the CSI, NFX, and MDI systems (p < 0.05). EV et al., 2004; McGill et al., 2008; Ribeiro et al., 2012). We
showed a statistically lower score than the CSI and NFX also did not find a significant difference among the NFX,
systems (p < 0.05). EA and SAF irrigation showed a CB, and CSI systems. Inadequate cleaning of the root
statistically lower score than CSI (p < 0.05). Comparing canal walls using the NFX system can be explained by
the smear layer removal at each root canal third revealed the push–pull motion of the brush, which physically
no significant differences among the groups (p > 0.05) displaces tissue; the friction created between the brush
at the apical third. At the middle third, CSI, NFX, bristles and canal walls precludes the flow of the solution
and MDI had the highest scores, with no significant inside the canals (Ribeiro et al., 2012). Comparisons of
difference among the three systems (p > 0.05). The EA debris removal by the sonic and ultrasonic systems have
and EV systems recorded the lowest scores, followed by shown that PUI systems are more effective than sonic
PUI and SAF irrigation, with no significant difference systems in debris removal (Stamos et al., ’87; Sabins
among the four systems (p > 0.05). At the coronal third, et al., 2003), but using the EA for 1 min was as efficient
EA, EV, and PUI showed statistically lower scores as ultrasonic cleaners in debris removal (Chye, 2008).
compared to CSI (p < 0.05). Similar to these findings, we found that the EA and PUI
systems used for 1 min had similar effects on debris and
smear removal. However, our SEM micrographs showed
Discussion damage to the root canal wall due to contact with
ultrasonic files but no damage from the EA system,
One of the aims of the present study was to compare which had a flexible non-cutting polymer tip.
the use of rotary nickel–titanium instruments and the Our results showed that the EA, EV, PUI, and SAF
SAF cleaning/shaping irrigation system for cleaning irrigation groups yielded lower smear layer scores (i.e.,
efficacy in root canals. The results revealed that the SAF higher smear layer removal) compared to the CSI
cleaning/shaping irrigation system produced cleaner system, in accordance with previous studies (Caron
canal walls than rotary instrumentation. Therefore, the et al., 2010; Abarajithan et al., 2011). The EV system
null hypothesis that there would be no differences provides ANP, which results in effective cleaning of
between SAF or rotary instrumentation in terms of smear dentinal surfaces by enabling irrigant suctioning with
layer formation and residual debris can be rejected. In the volume and flow sufficient to remove the smear layers
SAF instrumentation group, we irrigated root canals with and displace debris (Parente et al., 2010). Additionally,
NaOCl alone to standardize the enlargement protocol EV providing ANP is reportedly the safest system with
with the continuous rotation group. However, Metzger regard to extruding irrigant beyond the apex (Mal-
et al. (2010a) showed that the use of the SAF system entacca et al., 2012).
combined with NaOCl and EDTA resulted in less smear We found the use of CB, NFX, MDI, and CSI to have
layer and debris when compared to using NaOCl alone. a similar effect on smear removal, in agreement with
Moreover, to compare the SAF system to irrigation different studies (Garip et al., 2010; Parente et al., 2010;
agitation systems, we operated the SAF system after Ribeiro et al., 2012). In contrast to our findings, Salman
instrumentation with the rotary system and we operated et al. reported that the use of the CB system with a sonic
the SAF with NaOCl and EDTA irrigation. We showed brush resulted in significantly cleaner canal walls than
that the SAF system exhibited similar effectiveness as the CSI system (Salman et al., 2010). Conflicting results
irrigation agitation systems. Similar to our findings, might be due to the different motions used with CB.
previous studies revealed that, after root canal enlarge- Insufficient cleaning with the MDI system may be
ment with rotary systems, using the SAF system because the back-and-forth action of the corresponding
enhanced the removal of calcium hydroxide medicament gutta-percha cones provides close contact between the
(Capar et al., 2014) and residual gutta-percha (Abramo- gutta-percha and the canal wall, causing debris to settle
vitz et al., 2012). This result revealed that after back into the canal system after removal of the gutta-
instrumentation with rotary systems, the SAF system percha cone (Parente et al., 2010).
646 SCANNING VOL. 36, 6 (2014)

Clinically, the tooth root is enclosed by the bone irrigation on sealer penetration in extracted human teeth.
socket and the canal behaves as a closed-end channel, J Endod 39:708–711.
Capar ID, Ozcan E, Arslan H, Ertas H, Aydinbelge HA. 2014.
resulting in gas entrapment at its closed end (Tay Effect of different final irrigation methods on the removal of
et al., 2010). Therefore, we used an ex vivo closed-end calcium hydroxide from an artificial standardized groove in
canal model to imitate clinical conditions. To increase the apical third of root canals. J Endod 40:451–454.
the reliability of the results, our scoring method included Caron G, Nham K, Bronnec F, Machtou P. 2010. Effectiveness of
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third of the root canal. This finding reflects the difficulty Garip Y, Sazak H, Gunday M, Hatipoglu S. 2010. Evaluation of
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system provided similar performance as the agitation Klyn SL, Kirkpatrick TC, Rutledge RE. 2010. In vitro
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Lee SJ, Wu MK, Wesselink PR. 2004. The effectiveness of
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Acknowledgment simulated irregularities within prepared root canal walls. Int
Endod J 37:672–678.
This study was supported by Scientific Research Lin J, Shen Y, Haapasalo M. 2013. A comparative study of biofilm
removal with hand, rotary nickel–titanium, and self-adjusting
Projects Coordination Center of Selcuk University, file instrumentation using a novel in vitro biofilm model.
Konya, Turkey (Project no. 11102018). J Endod 39:658–663.
Malentacca A, Uccioli U, Zangari D, Lajolo C, Fabiani C. 2012.
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