Microleakage of Adhesive Sealants

Objectives: The use of pit and fissure sealants is a reliable procedure for preventing fissure caries on occlusal tooth surfaces, especially on erupting or newly erupted permanent molars. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the microleakage of adhesive surface sealants on posterior teeth. Methods: Sixty caries-free third molars were embedded in acrylic resin blocks and divided into 6 groups of ten teeth. A “window” (4x3mm) on the occlusal surface was formed with nail varnish and restored with adhesive surface sealants. The following sealants were applied: dentin bonding agents (OptiBond Solo Plus, Adper Single Bond Plus, UniFil Bond); flowable composite resins (Heliomolar Flow); liquid polish (BisCover,). Delton was used as a control. The sealed teeth were thermocycled for 1,000 cycles with a 20s dwell time in each bath. The cycled teeth were stained with SpotCheck solution and sectioned buccolingually at the point of greatest staining with a diamond disc. The dye penetration was evaluated under microscope at 20X and scored in 0.25mm increments from the occlusal surface towards the pulp along the long axis of the tooth. Differences among groups were determined using ANOVA and t-tests. Results: Biscover and Optibond demonstrated the least microleakage (0.30 and 0.37mm), which were significantly lower than the greatest leakage seen with Adper (1.13mm). Heliomolar, Unifil, and Delton were intermediate with values of 0.8, 0.82, and 0.85mm respectively, with no significant differences between them. Conclusions: All the sealants tested exhibited some degree of microleakage. Biscover and Optibond, having lower viscosity, more intimately sealed the tooth structure and resulted in the least microleakage.