Comparative Evaluation of the Marginal Sealing Ability of two Commercially Available Pit and Fissure Sealants

The occlusal surfaces of the teeth usually have pits and fissures which provide a good environment for demineralization with minimal salivary access and make them caries prone. The success of pit and fissure sealing materials is highly dependent on the marginal sealing ability of the fissures.

The present study was carried out to evaluate and compare the marginal sealing ability of two commercially available pit and fissure sealants.

A total of 50 human premolar teeth were used in this invitro study. Group 1 included 25 teeth for application of Clinpro sealant and Group 2 included twenty 25 for application of Helioseal F sealant. Samples were stored in artificial saliva for 72 hours before thermocycling. The samples were immersed in 2% methylene blue solution for 24 hours. The sectioned samples were examined under an Optical Stereomicroscope and compared in terms of the extent of microleakage based on the amount of dye penetration between the sealant and tooth substance interface. The dye penetration scores in both the groups was statistically analysed using Chi square test and Mann Whitney Test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

It was seen that in Group 1, 12 samples (48%) had no dye penetration (Grade 0) while in Group 2, 6 samples (24%) demonstrated Grade 0 penetration. Group 2 had the most extensive dye penetration (Grade 3) in 8 of 25 samples (32%) (p=0.014).

On comparison of the microleakage scores of the groups, a statistically significant difference was found between the two groups; indicating a much better performance of Clinpro as compared to Helioseal F.