Evaluation of the apical condensation of gutta-percha by a tapered/calibrated spreader/plugger.

This study compared a tapered, calibrated spreader/plugger instrument (M-series) to noncalibrated spreaders and pluggers in achieving apical condensation of gutta-percha in 20 single-rooted human teeth. The distances between the tip of the instruments and the tip of the master gutta-percha were measured. Results showed no significant difference in apical penetration between the D-11 spreader and finger plugger, also no difference between the M-spreader and M-plugger. The mean distance was significantly larger for the D-11 spreader than that for the M-spreader or M-plugger at 99% confidence level. The mean distance of the finger pluggers was significantly higher than that for the M-spreader at the 95% confidence level. Microleakage evaluation of the obturated teeth did not show a statistically significant difference between all four instruments used in this in vitro study.