Computed tomographic detection of cracks after liquid nitrogen cryotherapy of root apexes
International Journal of Development Research
Computed tomographic detection of cracks after liquid nitrogen cryotherapy of root apexes
Received 20th August, 2021 Received in revised form 19th September, 2021 Accepted 24th October, 2021 Published online 28th November, 2021
Copyright © 2021, Elcia Bravin de Carvalho et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Este Cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen (N2) has been effective to eliminate microorganisms such as Enterococcus faecalis, but its effects on dental tissues have not yet been well established. This in vitro study evaluated the formation of cracks in root apexes after cryotherapy. Forty uniradicular human teeth were endodonticall treated, resected (apicectomy), retroprepared and submitted to two 60-second freezing cycles with N2. The number of cracks along the 5-mm apical root segment was observed by using cone beam computed tomography and data submitted to McNemar and Wilcoxon tests (p<0.05). A significant increase in the number of teeth with complete cracks after cryotherapy was observed (p=0.017). Therefore, the use of the present cryotherapy protocol is still not safe as adjuvant method for parendodontic surgeries in order to eliminate microorganisms in refractory periapical lesions.
