Evaluation of the effectiveness of different irrigation activation methods on biofilm removal

The aim of this study is to compare the biofilm removing capacity of sonic, ultrasonic and SAF systems from simulated lateral canals. Sixty resin blocks with two lateral canals manufactured by using 3D printer were included. The hydrogel prepared for mimicing biofilm was tumbled into the lateral canals and weighed at a sensitivity of 10-5. Then, the samples were divided into 4 groups. Group A: Control group, Group B: Endoactivator system, Group C: Passive ultrasonic irrigation, Group D: Self Adjusting File (SAF) system. Each group was irrigated with 10 ml of 5 % NaOCl with a total irrigation time of 2 minutes and dried with paper points. After the procedure, each sample was weighed again and recorded. Furthermore, dissolution of the hydrogel in the upper and lower lateral canals was scored visually. 0: No dissolution occurred, 1: about 1/3 hydrogel dissolved, 2: about half hydrogel dissolved 3: 2/3 hydrogel or more dissolved. One way-Anova and Post hoc tests were used for statistical analysis. The SAF system dissolved statistically more hydrogel than other groups (p <0.05). While there was no significant difference between sonic and ultrasonic systems (p> 0.05), they both removed significantly more hydrogel than control group (p <0.05). In the lower lateral canals, the SAF system and ultrasonic system dissolved more hydrogel than other groups (p <0.05), but no significant difference was found between them (p> 0.05). The SAF system can be used as an alternative to other techniques in biofilm removal.