Effect of the methyl methacrylate-tributylborane sealant in preventing occlusal caries

A newly developed pit and fissure sealant, named Enamite, was studied technologically and clinically. Major ingredients of the sealant are a solution of 3% 2-hydroxy-3-beta-naphthoxypropyl methacrylate in methyl methacrylate and poly (methyl methacrylate) powder, using tributylborane as an initiator. In comparison with other commercially available sealants, Enamite showed much greater adhesiveness to enamel, which was confirmed by scanning electron micrographic observations. The sealant was applied to 161 first molars in 99 children, aged 6-8 years, to determine the caries preventive as well as the caries retardation effect. Among the treated teeth, 98 were intact and the remaining had incipient caries. The right side teeth of each subject was assigned to the test side and the other side served as a control. Each child was evaluated every 6 months by clinical exploration and bite-wing X-ray survey. At the final examination, the electric conductivity test was also used for the caries detection. After 2 years the sealant was effective in preventing 57.1% of the occlusal caries on treated compared with control teeth. When evaluation was made by including the caries retardation effect--teeth initially carious but remaining sealed after 2 years were counted as effective--, the sealant was effective in preventing or retarding 96.3% of the occlusal caries.