Temperature Changes on External Root Surfaces with the Use of Several Thermoplastic Filling Techniques.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to measure the temperature rise on the external root surface of filled root canals using Touch'n Heat (Analytic Endodontics, Orange, CA), the TC System (TC; Tanaka de Castro & Minatel Ltda, Cascavel, PR, Brazil), and the Tagger technique. METHODS: Forty-five single-canal mandibular premolar human teeth were used in the 3 experimental groups. The root canals were enlarged to accommodate up to an R40 Reciproc file (VDW, Munich, Germany). Next, the specimens were filled according to the technique evaluated. The measurement of the temperature was performed by K chromium-aluminum thermocouples attached to the coronal, middle, and apical root levels. RESULTS: There was a significant difference among the 3 techniques (P < .001) in relation to the temperature variation between the highest temperature and the initial temperature. The highest temperature change was found with the Tagger technique at the middle third root level (11.8 degrees C), and the lowest variation was in TC at the cervical third (2.05 degrees C). CONCLUSIONS: There was a rise of temperature on the external root surface for all of the techniques evaluated. TC showed the lowest temperature rise.