Clinical and radiographic evaluation of high viscosity bulk-fill resin composite restorations

To perform a clinical and radiographic evaluation comparing Filtek Bulk Fill high viscosity bulk-fill resins with Filtek Z350 XT nanoparticulate for 1 year.

58 restorations were performed for each material (bulk-fill and nanoparticulate), for a total of 116 restorations. Among these, 42 Class I and 16 Class II restorations were performed for each group, in molars and premolars. Clinical evaluation was performed 7 days (baseline), 6 months and 1 year after restorations, using the World Dental Federation (FDI) criteria. Radiographs were obtained at 7 days and 1 year after the restoration was placed and the radiopacity was measured using Image J software at the same time interval.

Of the 70 restorations available for evaluation at 1 year, the Mann-Whitney and Friedman tests showed no statistically significant difference for the FDI criteria analyzed. Greater radiopacity was observed for bulk-fill resin compared to nanoparticulate (two-way ANOVA, P= 0.022). This same test showed no difference in radiopacity between the groups in the two evaluation periods (P= 0.062). The high viscosity bulk-fill resin composite presented similar clinical performance to nanoparticulate resin in this evaluation period and higher radiopacity was observed for this material when compared to nanoparticulate resin, in both time periods.

The high viscosity bulk-fill resin composite showed similar performance to the nanoparticulate resin during the evaluation period of 1 year. Radiopacity showed high values for the bulk-fill resin when compared to nanoparticulate resin. The bulk-fill resin has potential to be used in posterior teeth.