Bond strength and microleakage of a new self-etch sealant.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and compare shear bond strength and marginal leakage of a new self-etch sealant to enamel of human permanent teeth versus those of a conventional sealant.


METHODS
Forty-four premolar crowns were mounted to expose flat lingual surfaces and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 test groups: conventional sealant (group 1, control) and self-etch sealant (group 2). Sealants were expressed into hollow plastic cylinders placed on the mounted teeth and polymerized according to manufacturers' instructions. Shear bond strength was measured at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Another 44 premolars were randomly assigned to either group 1 or group 2 for microleakage testing. Sealants were applied to the occlusal groove as per manufacturers' instructions, and specimens were thermocycled, stained, sectioned, and examined for marginal leakage.


RESULTS
The bond strength of conventional sealant to enamel was significantly (P < .05) higher than that of self-etch sealant. The conventional sealant showed significantly (P < .05) lower microleakage than the self-etch sealant.


CONCLUSIONS
Pending clinical validation, the new self-etch sealant under investigation provides lower bond strength and greater marginal leakage than the control (sealant application following standard acid etching).
Wadenya
Rose O
RO
Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. wadenya@dental.upenn.edu
Yego
Chelimo
C
Blatz
Marcus B
MB
Mante
Francis
F
D003738:Dental Cements; D045662:Dental Etching / Q000379:methods*; D003763:Dental Leakage; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D006801:Humans; D055115:Light-Curing of Dental Adhesives; D008422:Materials Testing; D033081:Shear Strength
D003738:Dental Cements