Do Resin Cements Alter Action Potentials of Isolated Rat Sciatic Nerve?

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the effects dual-cure resin cements on nerve conduction. METHODS: Panavia F, RelyX ARC, and Variolink II polymerized either by light-emitting diode (LED) or quartz tungsten halogen (QTH) were used in the study (n=10). The conductance of sciatic nerves of 50 rats were measured before and after contact with the specimens for 1 h. RESULTS: The time-dependent change in nerve conductance and the comparison of LED versus QTH showed that differences between groups are significant (P<.05). For both polymerization techniques, pair-wise comparisons of resin cements showed that the nerve conductance between groups is different (P<.05). RelyX ARC elicited irreversible inhibition of compound action potentials (more than 50% change) and Panavia F and Variolink II polymerized by LED and QTH did not alter nerve conduction beyond physiologic limits. CONCLUSIONS: Resin cements may alter nerve conductance and even lead to neurotoxic effects.