Ex vivo microleakage comparison between glass ionomers used as pit and fissure sealants

The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro the marginal microleakage of two glass ionomer materials used as pit and fissure sealants. Thirty healthy premolars extracted for orthodontic treatment were randomly assigned to two groups (n=15) and respectively sealed with two glass ionomers (Group I, Fuji VII and Group II, Fuji IX). All teeth were preserved in artificial saliva (NAF) for 10 days, thermocycled (250 cycles; 5 °C, 37 °C and 60 °C), isolated, and immersed in 2% alcohol gentian violet blue solution for 24 h. After washing, teeth were included in acrylic resin and sectioned longitudinally in a bucco-lingual direction with a Struers-Minitom cutting device. Samples were analyzed for leakage using an optical microscope (Olympus BX- 60M). TheWilliams and Winter semi-quantitative ranked scale was used to score dye penetration. In Group I the grades were distributed as follows: Grade 1, 1 sample and Grade 3, 14 samples (Mean 2.87 Median 3, SD 0.52). In Group II: Grade 0: 4 samples, Grade 1, 3 samples, Grade 2, 2 samples and Grade 3, 6 samples (Mean 1.67, Median 2, SD 1.29). Fisher's exact test showed statistically significant differences between materials (p=0.006). From these results, we conclude that Fuji IX had better marginal sealing than Fuji VII when used as a pit and fissure sealant.