Effect of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid on root fracture with respect to concentration at different time exposures

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) on root fracture with respect to various concentrations at different time exposures.A total of 48 mandibular incisors were selected. Eight nonprepared roots were selected as a negative control. The remaining 40 specimens were instrumented with rotary files and randomly assigned to one of the following groups for final irrigation: (1) 10 mL distilled water for 10 minutes (positive control); (2) 10 mL of 17% EDTA for 1 minute + 10 mL of 1% NaOCl for 1 minute; (3) 10 mL of 5% EDTA for 1 minute + 10 mL of 1% NaOCl for 1 minute; (4) 10 mL of 17% EDTA for 10 minutes + 10 mL of 1% NaOCl for 1 minute; (5) 10 mL of 5% EDTA for 10 minutes + 10 mL of 1% NaOCl for 1 minute. Thereafter, the root canals were filled by using AH26 root canal sealer with a single-cone technique. The specimens were loaded vertically at 1 mm/min crosshead speed until vertical root fracture occurred. Results were evaluated statistically with 1-way analysis of variance and Student's t test.Statistically significant differences were detected among the groups (P.05). The highest mean fracture resistance was obtained from the group treated with 5% EDTA for 10 minutes. This is about 2 times more than the weakest mean fracture resistance, which was obtained from the 17% EDTA-10 minute group.The fracture resistances of endodontically treated roots were found to be differently affected by the various concentrations of EDTA at different time exposures.