The effect of base/liner use on restoration leakage

Central to the success of a restoration is the quality of the restoration-dentin interfacial seal; any compromise of the seal can lead to secondary or recurrent decay. Class V restorations have a high leakage propensity and this study evaluates the effect of base/liner placement on leakage behavior. Class V intracoronal half enamel/half dentin preparations (3.0 x 2.0 x 2.0 mm) were cut in four groups (n = 10) of extracted human teeth with a new bur used for each cavity preparation. All teeth were single-rooted, single-canal anterior teeth. Base/liner usage differed between each group. The first group of teeth had no liner or base, while a liner was placed in the second group of teeth prior to conditioning and restoration. A base was placed in the third group of cavity preparations and both the base and liner were placed in the fourth group. After preparation, a small diameter bare-end PVC-insulated copper wire was inserted within the root canal of each tooth from the apex to firm contact with the pulp chamber roof. The tooth-wire interface and root surface was sealed and leakage was followed electrochemically for 35 days in 0.9% NaCl solution. All of the teeth leaked to some degree; however, teeth that were restored without liner or base demonstrated the smallest amount of leakage. The greatest leakage was noted in teeth restored with both a base and a liner; teeth restored with only a base showed greater leakage than those restored with only a liner. The findings indicate that the presence of a base and/or a liner results in greater leakage compared with intracoronal Class V preparations that were conditioned and restored only. The data suggest that placing both a base and a liner increases restoration leakage significantly.