Abstract

This study compared microleakage of enamel margins in class V cavities restored with two types of adhesives at three time intervals. A total of 120 bovine incisors were randomly divided into two groups (groups 1 and 2) according to the type of the adhesive used (dentin and enamel adhesives, respectively). Then, each group was divided into three subgroups (n = 20) (subgroups 1 to 3: evaluation of microleakage at 24 h, 6 months and 12 months intervals after restoration, respectively). Subsequent to restoration and immersion in fuschin, the teeth were sectioned and microleakage was evaluated. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for comparison of microleakage of the three subgroups in each group and for two-by-two comparisons, respectively. Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of microleakage between enamel and dentin adhesives at each time interval. There were significant differences in the microleakage between the three time intervals in both adhesives (p < 0.001). The differences in microleakage between the two adhesives were significant at 12 month interval (P = 0.02), whereas there were no significant differences in the microleakage at other intervals between the two adhesives (p > 0.05). Dentin adhesive showed a better durability of the bond to enamel when compared to enamel adhesive subsequent to 12 months of storage in water.

Key words: Enamel adhesive resin, dentin adhesive resin, microleakage, water storage.