Effect of curing unit and adhesive system on marginal adaptation of composite restorations

This study sought to evaluate how a curing unit and adhesive system affected the marginal adaptation of resin composite restorations. Class V cavities were prepared in bovine teeth with a gingival margin in dentin and an incisal margin in enamel. The cavities were restored with a micro-hybrid resin composite using one of four adhesives: Single Bond 2, Prime & Bond NT, Clearfil SE Bond, Xeno IV. The light-activations were performed using a quartz-tungsten-halogen (QTH) lamp or a second-generation light-emitting diode (LED). Restorations were finished and polished and epoxy replicas were prepared. Marginal adaptation was analyzed by using scanning electronic microscopy (magnification 500X). The widest gaps in each margin were recorded, and data were submitted to Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon tests (α = 0.05). Differences between the adhesives were observed only when the dentin margins were evaluated: Clearfil SE Bond demonstrated better marginal adaptation than Prime & Bond NT or Single Bond 2 (which demonstrated the widest gaps in the dentin margin). The type of curing unit only affected the results for Xeno IV when the enamel margin was analyzed; the LED lamp promoted smaller gaps than the QTH lamp.