Root canal preparation has been considered one of the most important steps in root canal therapy, thus many techniques and instruments have been developed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cleaning of the root canal through three different instrumentation techniques. Thirty mandibular incisors were selected and submitted to lingual access cavities. Afterwards, the canals were filled with India ink dye previously stored in carpules, which was inserted into the root canal by means of anesthetic syringe and anesthetic needles. After 48 hours, during which the dye was allowed to dry inside the root canal, the teeth were divided in three groups: G1- GT rotatory instrumentation; G2- manual instrumentation; G3- association of both. After instrumentation, the teeth were longitudinally sectioned. The cleaning process accomplished through the different instrumentation techniques was evidenced by dye removal at the cervical, middle and apical thirds of the root canal. The results of this study showed that were not statistically significant differences between these three instrumentation techniques for all three thirds of the root canal.
Root canal preparation; instrumentation
