The impact of Er:YAG laser enamel conditioning on the microleakage of a new hydrophilic sealant—UltraSeal XT® hydro™


Guclu Z. A., DÖNMEZ N., TÜZÜNER T., Odabas M. E., Hurt A. P., Coleman N. J.

Lasers in Medical Science, vol.31, no.4, pp.705-711, 2016 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 31 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s10103-016-1878-y
  • Journal Name: Lasers in Medical Science
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.705-711
  • Keywords: Er:YAG laser, Hydrophilic fissure sealant, Microleakage, Scanning electron microscopy, FISSURE SEALANT, IN-VITRO, IRRADIATION, PITS
  • Gazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

© 2016, The Author(s).UltraSeal XT® hydro™ is a new hydrophilic, light-cured, methacrylate-based pit and fissure sealant which has been developed by Ultradent Products, USA. The sealant is highly filled with a 53 wt.% mixture of inorganic particles which confer both thixotropy and radiopacity. The principal purpose of this study was to investigate the microleakage of UltraSeal XT® hydro™ as a function of different enamel etching techniques. The occlusal surfaces of sound, extracted human molars were either acid etched, Er:YAG laser irradiated or successively laser irradiated and acid etched. UltraSeal XT® hydro™ was applied to each group of teeth (n = 10) which were subjected to a thermocycling process consisting of 2500 cycles between 5 and 50 °C with a dwell time of 30 s. Microleakage assessments were then carried out using 0.5 % fuchsin dye and optical microscopy. The microleakage score data were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis, Mann–Whitney U test with Bonferroni adjustment. No significant differences in microleakage were noted between the individually acid etched and laser-irradiated groups (p > 0.05); however, teeth treated with a combination of laser irradiation and acid etching demonstrated significantly lower microleakage scores (p < 0.001). Electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis revealed that the mineral filler component of UltraSeal XT® hydro™ essentially comprises micrometre-sized particles of inorganic silicon-, aluminium- and barium-bearing phases. Laser etching increases the roughness of the enamel surface which causes a concentrated zoning of the filler particles at the enamel-sealant interface.