Marginal microleakage of two fissure sealants: a comparative study

An in vitro study was conducted to evaluate enamel marginal microleakage following acid etching of two fissure sealants of established clinical efficacy. The purpose of this study was to assess sealant leakage following etching in combination with the use of latest-generation adhesives.

Clinicians removed 22 human premolars without caries for orthodontic reasons, stored them in distilled water, and sealed the occlusal surface. They used sealants Concise (3M) and Dyract seal (Dentsply DeTrey). They randomly distributed the premolars into two groups (N = 11) according to sealant used. The materials were manipulated according to the instructions of the manufacturer, and no invasive enamel preparing technique was used (enameloplasty). Staining was carried out with 2% fuchsin. The results were evaluated by the Mann-Whitney nonparametric test for the comparison of independent data samples.

Concise sealant was seen to produce significantly greater marginal leakage than Dyract seal (P=.02).

The application of an adhesive layer beneath the sealant afforded less microleakage than when no adhesive was used. Nevertheless despite the possibility of combining adhesives and sealant resins, with good bonding between both components over the entire fissure interface, microleakage was still observed, regardless of the material used. This suggests that presently there is no material is able to secure total sealing of the space between the material used and the dental tissue.