Comparative evaluation of three obturation systems in primary molars - A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare the radiographic efficacy of the quality of obturation and to assess the number of voids and the obturation time in primary teeth using Pastinject, disposable needle, and capillary tips. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 34 teeth with 103 canals were randomly divided into three groups using chit method, based on used application: Group 1: Pastinject (Micro-Mega, Besancon, France); Group 2: Disposable needle (23G short needle BD Discardit, Becton Dickinson India Pvt. Ltd.), and Group 3: Capillary tips (Meta Biomed((c)) Co. Ltd., China). All the groups were named based on obturation systems used. To compare the quality of obturation, the Chi-square test was used; to assess the number of voids, Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA test was used; and to evaluate the obturation time, post hoc Scheffe one-way ANOVA test was used. All P values having <0.05 were considered as statistical significant (P < 0.05). Kappa statistics were performed to check interexaminer reliability. Descriptive statistics were used for evaluation using SPSS (version. 21). RESULTS: Capillary tips resulted in better optimal filled canals and less obturation time, compared to disposable needle and Pastinject (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference evident among three groups in relation to voids (P = 0.111). CONCLUSION: Capillary tip technique proved to be the most effective, yielding a higher number of optimally filled canals and minimal voids, combined with easier placement of the material into the canals when compared to Pastinject and disposable needle obturation.