Clinical trial of self-etching agents for sealant application

Objectives: To evaluate the 12 months clinical sealant retention when using ClearFil SE Bond and Xeno III, the self-etching agents, as the sole etching and adhesive step prior to sealant placement. Methods: 6-8 years' children with matched pairs of permanent first molars needing sealants were enrolled into an ongoing clinical study of sealant retention. First permanent molars were randomly assigned to control(sealant only after phosphoric acid etch) or self-etching agents (ClearFil SE Bond and Xeno III) plus sealant groups in a split-mouth,matched pair study design. Standard methods were used for sealant(Concise,3M)placement. All the children were devided into four groups. Group A: 30 children, 104 first molars, occlusal surfaces were cleansed by pumiching, fissures were sealed with ClearFil SE Bond. Group B:35 children,124 first molars, occlusal surfaces were cleansed by pumiching, fissures were sealed with Xeno III. Group C:18 children,54 first molars, occlusal surfaces were pretreated by enameloplasty, fissures were sealed with ClearFil SE Bond. Group D:16 children,50 first molars, occlusal surfaces were pretreated by enameloplasty, fissures were sealed with Xeno III. All sealants were placed using appropriate cotton-roll isolation and a dental assistant. The teeth were evaluated at 6 and 12-month intervals. The data were analysed with the Chi-square test. Results: In the group A and group B there were significant differences in retention rates between two sealant application techniques involving self-etching primer adhesives and the traditional phosphoric acid etch. There was no statistical difference between results in the group C. After 6 months,there was no statistical difference between results in the group D. Meanwhile, 12 months there was significant differences in retention rates in the group D. Conclusions:The results show that self-etching agents for sealant application with pumicing cleasing contribute to low retention rates and self-etching agents for sealant application with enameloplasty is effective in bonding sealant to enamel.