Comparing nanoleakage between class II bulkfill and incremental composite restorations using snowplow technique

Area of Science:

• Dental Materials Science
• Restorative Dentistry
• Nanotechnology in Dentistry

Background:

• Class II cavities are common in primary and permanent molars.
• Minimizing nanoleakage is crucial for the longevity of resin composite restorations.
• The snowplow technique is a method for placing resin composites.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare nanoleakage between bulkfill and incremental-fill resin composites.
• To evaluate restorations in primary and permanent teeth using the snowplow technique.
• To assess nanoleakage at axial and cervical walls.

Main Methods:

• Prepared Class II slots in 32 molars (16 primary, 16 permanent).
• Applied self-etching adhesive and used the snowplow technique with flowable composite.
• Restored cavities with bulkfill or microhybrid composites and analyzed nanoleakage using Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry.

Main Results:

• Incremental-fill restorations exhibited significantly less nanoleakage than bulkfill restorations.
• This finding was consistent for both cervical and axial walls in primary and permanent molars.
• Nanoleakage was consistently higher at the cervical walls compared to the axial walls.

Conclusions:

• The incremental technique is superior to bulkfill for reducing nanoleakage in Class II snowplow restorations.
• Both primary and permanent molars showed similar trends in nanoleakage.
• Careful placement at cervical margins is important to minimize nanoleakage.