Base deflection and microleakage of composite restorations

The flexural deflections of human dentin, Herculite XR, Dycal, Vidrion F, zinc phosphate base, and combinations of composite-base were determined. The influence of the flexural deflections in the marginal microleakage was also determined for the composite-base combinations. The flexural deflection test for dentin showed no statistically significant differences between the two floor cavity depths studied. There were significant differences among cements when the thickness of the base was 1 mm whereas no differences occurred at 2 mm. The composite-base combinations did not present statistical differences. There were no statistically significant differences in the microleakage levels among loaded and non-loaded specimens; however, dye penetration was visually greater in loaded samples.