The effect of flowable resin composites as gingival increments on the microleakage of posterior resin composites

Microleakage has been a major concern in restorative dentistry. The curing contraction of composites still presents a problem with controlling microleakage and postoperative sensitivity. This study investigated the effect of flowable materials on gingival microleakage of microhybrid and packable resin composite restorations. Ninety Class II cavities with cervical margins 1 mm below the CEJ were prepared in 45 extracted human premolars. The teeth were randomly divided into three groups (n=15). In each group, one side of each tooth was restored incrementally with respective composites-SureFil, Filtek P60 and Tetric Ceram; whereas, on the other side, flowable materials-Dyract Flow, Filtek Flow or Tetric Flow-were placed respectively as a 1-mm thick gingival increment before the resin composite restoration. The restored teeth were stored for one week in distilled water at 37 degrees C, thermocycled between 5 degrees C and 55 degrees C and immersed in 0.5% basic fuchsin for 24 hours. Dye penetration was evaluated using a stereomicroscope at 10x magnification. The data were analyzed statistically by Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance and Mann-Whitney U-tests. The effect of flowable increments on reducing the gingival microleakage was found to be statistically significant for all restorative materials tested (p<0.05).