Effect of post space preparation on apical seal: Influence of time interval and sealer

objective: to assess the efficacy of two sealants to preserve the apical seal after root canal preparation and cementation of posts at 24 h or 72 h after endodontic treatment. study design: sixty human single-root teeth were instrumented and obturated using lateral compaction technique with endofill？ [30] or ah-plus？ [30] and were prepared in one of three ways, leaving a 3 mm gutta percha remnant in all cases: without cast post preparation, with preparation after 24 h or after 72 h. after cementing the posts, the specimens were thermal cycled at 5 and 55？c in water baths, submerged in 2% methylene blue dye for 72 h, embedded in acrylic resin and cut transversally into three 1-mm apical sections. dye leakage was quantitatively assessed as the percentage leaked area. results and conclusion: comparison of the apical sections showed significant differences in leakage with both sealers among the three preparation groups (p<0.001). no significant differences between sealers were found in any preparation group or in the same sections.