Aim: The purpose of the present study was to compare the quality of two different root canal obturation techniques: MTA and cold lateral compaction technique (CLC) using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) analysis

Materials and methods: Twenty single rooted extracted teeth were collected. Root canals were prepared using Reciproc file system. The samples were scanned using CBCT before obturation. The roots were randomly allocated into two groups, one group was obturated by CLC using gutta-percha / AH plus sealer, the second group was obturated with MTA. Roots were scanned with CBCT, and volume measurements for voids were carried out by using specialized software. The difference between both techniques was evaluated using Mann Whitney U test. Independent t test was used to compare between groups.

Results: Revealed that a higher mean value of percentage of obturated volume (POV) was recorded in MTA group, with no statistically significant difference.

Conclusions: CBCT imaging system produces a clear view of the volumetric measurements of voids. There was no significant difference between the qualities of root canal filling by both techniques. None of the two root canal filling techniques could completely fill the root canal space.