A comparison of microleakage of fissure sealants following three different application techniques :

PLEASE NOTE: This work is protected by copyright. Downloading is restricted to the BU community: please click Download and log in with a valid BU account to access. If you are the author of this work and would like to make it publicly available, please contact open-help@bu.edu.Thesis (MSD) --Boston University Institute for Dental Research and Education, Dubai, 2011 (Pediatric Dentistry).Includes bibliographic references: leaves 86-95.Purpose: The purpose of this in vitro study was to compare the microleakage of fissure sealant placed on the occlusal surface of premolars using three different application techniques. Methods: A total of ninety four extracted sound human premolar teeth were assigned in this in vitro study. The samples were kept in distilled water for not more than a week and then randomly were distributed into three different test groups with 30 teeth in each; (A) teeth in the first group were treated with 37% phosphoric acid etching and Clinpro fissure sealant; (B) teeth in the second group were treated with 37% phosphoric acid, single bottle dentin bonding agent and fissure sealant; (C) teeth in the third group were treated with self etch adhesive and fissure sealant. Groups B and C were further divided equally into two subgroups based on light curing of dentin bonding agent and self etch adhesive prior to the application of sealant. A negative control of 2 teeth and a positive control group of 2 teeth were included to confirm that the basic conditions of the experiment are able to produce negative and positive results. Samples were thermocycled, stained with 5% methylene blue, sectioned and examined for microleakage under the stereomicroscope with a magnification range of X30 to X40. To determine the most appropriate time for maximum dye penetration, a pilot study of 12 teeth was conducted. Groups were compared using Pearson Chi square analysis. Results: No dye penetration was observed in 16, 7, and 11 teeth for groups A, B, and C respectively. Statistically significant difference was found in microleakage between the use of different application techniques (P[less than] 0.01). Etch and sealant group exhibited significantly higher microleakage compared to the other groups. Conclusion: The application of a bonding agent layer prior to a sealant afforded less microleakage than when no bonding agent was used. Furthemore, the separate curing of the bonding agent resulted in significantly less microleakage (P[less than] 0.01). Clinical trials should be performed to evaluate the performance of these techniques before definitive conclusions can be drawn