Effect of niobium pentoxide incorporated calcium hydroxide as an intracanal medicament on fracture resistance of root canal dentin.

Context: Despite its outstanding properties, extended use of calcium hydroxide (CH) causes a reduction in dentin strength, increasing the tooth's vulnerability to fracture. Aim: This in vitro study aimed to compare and assess the fracture resistance (FR) of root dentin when CH with and without the addition of niobium pentoxide (NP) was used as an intracanal medicament (ICM) and its solubility over a period of time. Methodology: Eighty teeth with single roots were decoronated, instrumented with Protaper till F3. The teeth were randomly divided into baseline (n = 5), without medicament, CH, and CH + NP (n = 25 each) and subjected to FR testing at different time periods. For the solubility rate, the American Dental Association specification #8 was adopted and tested at various time intervals. Statistical Analysis: One-way ANOVA along with Tukey's honestly significant difference post hoc Test. Results: CH + NP exhibited statistically significantly higher FR than CH at 1 month. The increase was statistically insignificant for the remaining intervals. CH + NP (94.4%) and CH (87.5%) showed the highest percentage of solubility at 1-month interval. Conclusions: CH + NP can be effectively used as an ICM with easy retrievability.