Assessment of cytotoxic potential of root canal sealers after hardening - an ex vivo study.

AIM: The aim of this study was to perform a comparative assessment of the toxic action of root canal sealers currently on the market on human gingival fibroblasts after setting. MATERIAL/METHODS: The inserts with an equal quantity of set root canal sealers were transferred into 24-well culture dishes containing human gingival fibroblasts cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). The dishes with materials were incubated at 37°C, 100% humidity and in an atmosphere of 5% CO2 for 24 h. The cytotoxic effects of the root canal materials were measured by the mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase activity in living cells using tetrazolium bromide (MTT assay). RESULTS: Epiphany and Sealapex exhibited high toxicity towards human gingival fibroblasts - 25.57% ± 0.88 and 27.63 % ± 2.35 respectively (less than 30% live cells in the culture). The remaining materials were characterized by lack of a cytotoxic effect (over 90% of live cells in the culture). None of the preparations exhibited moderate or low toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of root canal sealers tested after hardening were well tolerated by human gingival fibroblasts. Only two materials were characterized by high toxicity: with methacrylate (Epiphany) and calcium hydroxide (Sealapex).