Evaluation of radiopacity changes of Biodentine as a root-end filling material within soft and hard tissue simulation using digital radiography

Objective: This in vitro study assessed the radiopacity changes of Biodentine as a root-end filling material, using soft and hard tissue simulation by direct digital radiographic techniques. Materials and methods: Sixty disk specimens of Biodentine (6 mm diameter and 1 mm thickness) were prepared. The specimens were stored at 37°C for 48 h. Then they were divided into three groups (n = 20); Group I: specimens radiographed with aluminium step-wedge; Group II: bone segment was prepared to insert and standardise the specimen placement and then positioned between the digital sensor and X-ray machine; Group III: utility wax (30 mm thickness) was placed at the buccal aspect of bone, covering the whole test region. For all groups, three radiographs were taken for each specimen using intraoral sensor Carestream CS, operating at 60 kV, 7 mA and 0.24 s. The object-to-focus distance was 30 cm. The mean grey value (MGV) was measured using the densitometry analysis tool of the Image Tool of CS2100 software. The radiopacity value was determined according to the radiographic density, which was also converted into millimetres of thickness of aluminium equivalent (mm Al). Data (mm Al) were submitted to the one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test. Results: The specimens evaluated under conditions with simulated hard and soft tissue showed values above the minimum recommended by the ISO 6867: 2012 specification, while the materials alone displayed the lowest values (group I). Conclusion: Biodentine is suitable as a root-end filling material in terms of radiographic features. Keywords: Biodentine, radiopacity, root-end filling materials