Obturating Material For Primary Teeth

The primary goal of a root canal treatment in deciduous teeth is to eliminate infection and to retain the tooth in a functional state until it gets normally exfoliated. The ideal root canal filling material for primary teeth should resorb at a similar rate as the roots of primary tooth, be harmless to the periapical tissue and to the permanent tooth germ, resorb readily if pushed beyond the apex, be antiseptic, radio-opaque, should not shrink, easy to fill and can be removed easily if required at any stage, should adhere to the walls and should not discolor the tooth. In order to achieve desirable properties of an ideal root canal filling material various investigations have been conducted the world over. Presently commonly used obturating materials for primary teeth are zinc oxide eugenol, calcium hydroxide and iodoform based pastes.