Effect of Using Electric Current during Dentin Bonding Agent Application on Microleakage under Simulated Pulpal Pressure Condition

BACKGROUND: The use of electric current during application of etch-and-rinse adhesive systems has been recently introduced to decrease microleakage. This study investigated the effects of an electric field produced by an experimental device for the application of a two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive on moist dentin surface. METHODS: Sixty freshly extracted human premolars were used for this study. In order to simulate real conditions, the pulpal pressure was set to 35 cm H(2)O for all the specimens. The teeth were divided into two groups: in group I, etch-and-rinse system (Single Bond) was applied with electric current while group II, etch-and-rinse system (Single Bond) was applied without electric current. Specimens were prepared for dye penetration test. The data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: The results showed that group I had less microleakage scores compared to group II (P = 0.047). CONCLUSION: Based on the result of this study, it could be concluded that using electric current for applying adhesive systems had a significant effect on reducing microleakage.