Clinical studies on core-carrier obturation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: This study is a systematic review of clinical studies using core-carrier obturation techniques in endodontic treatment. Methods: Keywords of [core carrier OR Thermafil AND obturation] were searched in the databases of PubMed, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, Embase and Web of Science. The titles and abstracts of the identified articles were screened. Duplicated articles, reviews, laboratory or animal studies and irrelevant studies were removed. The remaining articles were retrieved with full texts. The data were extracted from the included studies for meta-analysis on the success rate, postoperative pain, adaptation of obturation and overfilling. Results: A total of 805 potentially relevant articles were identified; 254 duplicated articles were removed and 536 articles were excluded after screening. Sixteen articles were included in the systematic review. Seven of 8 selected studies reporting the success rate were included for meta-analysis. The pooled success rate of core-carrier obturation was 79% (95% CI: 60%-91%). Five of 7 selected studies reporting short-term (within 7 days) postoperative pain were analysed. The pooled incidence of short-term postoperative pain was 11% (95% CI: 7%-19%). Eight of 9 studies reported overfilling; and 5 of 6 studies reported adaptation of the obturation. The pooled proportion of teeth with adequate adaptation and overfilling of the obturation material were 0.87 (95% CI: 0.76-0.93) and 0.33 (95% CI: 0.16-0.56), respectively. The The forest plots of core-carrier obturation versus cold lateral condensation on treatment success, incidence of short-term postoperative pain, overfilling and obturation quality (adequate adaptation) is shown in Figure 1. Conclusions: The success rate of endodontic treatment using core-carrier obturation was high (79%), and the incidence of postoperative pain was low (11%). Most teeth (87%) had adequate adaptation using core-carrier obturation material but one third of them had overfilling.