Comparing marginal microleakage of three different dental materials in veneer restoration using a stereomicroscope: an in vitro study

OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to evaluate the degree of dye penetration of three different dental materials as esthetic veneer restorations on anterior teeth using stereomicroscope, and to provide reference for clinical choice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty freshly extracted human maxillary central incisors were selected and randomly divided into three main groups of 20 each. Respectively, the teeth were prepared for veneer restoration by fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) (Everstick NET, Stick Tech), porcelain laminate veneer (PLV) (IPS Empress II(E-Max Press)) and 3M composites (3M ESPE) bonding with G-Cem resin cement (GC). After exposed to thermocycling (500cycles per day (5–55 °C, intervals: 30 s)) and immersed in 2% basic fuchsin dye solution for 24 h, the specimens were then sectioned buccolingual into three halves in a vertical plane parallel and measured dye penetration using stereomicroscope (Zeiss). The data collected was recorded by the dye penetration index (0–5) and statistically analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and T-tests using SPSS 13. RESULTS: It is evident that the FRC group showed the lowest mean score of 0.333 mm, and the PLV group showed a highest mean score of 0.749 mm, as compared with the FRC group and the 3M composites group. Overall, when the three groups were compared for microleakage using ANOVA, there was significant difference among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: To evaluate the dye penetration of microleakage, the FRC showed a better marginal adaptability for veneer restoration. Therefore, within the limitation of this study, the use of FRC as veneer on anterior teeth can be suggested.