Methods: Fifty-four patients having four to eight small or moderate size Class I and II restorations/caries were included in the study. A total of 252 restorations were made with Fuji IX GP eXtra (GC Corp, Japan) and Riva (SDI, Australia). As a surface coating, G-coat plus or GC varnish were used on the surface of the restorations. The combination of Fuji GP eXtra + G-coat Plus is called the Equia system. After removal of the caries/restorations with conventional procedures, the teeth were randomly restored with one of the glass ionomer cements and coated with G-coat Plus or GC Varnish. The restorations were evaluated at baseline, 6, 12 and 18 months after placement using USPHS criteria. For that purpose, color-matching ability, marginal discoloration, marginal adaptation, caries formation, anatomical form, postoperative sensitivity and retention loss were checked by two independent evaluators trained in the field of restorative dentistry and digital photographs were taken at each recalls. The results were evaluated with Chi square, Cochran Q and Mc Nemar tests at a significant level of 0.05.
Results: Fifty patients were evaluated after 18 months. There was no statistical difference between the material combination but the initial color match and translucency of Fuji IX GP eXtra was better than Riva (p£ 0.05). Seven restorations of each material were rated Bravo for marginal adaptation or retention, making the final failure rate of the materials 5%.
Conclusions: All material combinations were successful. However, Equia system with its excellent initial color match, ease of manipulation and strength was found to be more promising.
The materials of this study were generously donated by GC and SDI.