36-Months Clinical Performance of a Glass-Ionomer Restorative System

Methods: Twenty six patients having 2 to 4 moderate size Class II lesions were included. A total of 60 lesions were randomly restored either with  a glass-ionomer restorative system (EQUIA/ GC) which was a combination of a packable glass-ionomer (Fuji IX GP EXTRA/ GC) and a self-adhesive nano-filled coating (G-Coat PLUS GC) in Group1; or with a micro-filled composite (Gradia Direct/ GC)  with a self-etch adhesive (G-Bond/ GC) in Group2,  by two calibrated operators according to the manufacturers' instructions (n=30). Two independent examiners evaluated the restorations at baseline, 6-12-18-24 and 36  months according to the modified USPHS criteria. The differences between two groups were statistically evaluated by Pearson Chi-Square test (p=0. 05).

Results: Fifty-three restorations were evaluated in 23 patients with a recall rate of 88.3%, after 36 months.  All the restorations in the two groups were scored as Alpha for recurrent caries, surface texture, postoperative sensitivity and color match. For marginal adaptation, 6 restorations (23.7%) in Group 1 and 8 restorations (29.6%) in Group 2 were scored as Bravo. Two restorations ( 7.6%) in Group 1 and 5 restorations (18.5%) in Group 2 were scored as Bravo for marginal discoloration. One restoration (3.8%) in Group 1 was scored as Charlie for anatomic form and retention because of marginal fracture within restorative material.  However, there were no significant differences between the clinical performances of the materials at the end of 36 months for  the criteria assessed (p>0. 05).

Conclusions: Both materials exhibited a similar and clinically acceptable performance on moderate Class II cavities after 36-months.