Comparative Evaluation of Marginal Integrity of Three Esthetic Restorative Materials – An In-vitro Study

CONTEXT: Microleakage is the major cause for the failure of dental restorations, especially in Class V cavities, as margins of such restorations are generally located in dentin or cementum. Microleakage evaluation is necessary as a means of evaluation of the marginal integrity of restorative materials. This would assist in developing techniques and materials that would reduce damage caused by the failure of the restorative marginal seal. AIM: The aim of this study is to analyze and compare the marginal integrity among three esthetic restorative materials, namely GC Fuji II LC, GC G-Aenial anterior composite resin, and GC Equia forte fil. SETTING AND DESIGN: Sixty orthodontically extracted caries-free premolar teeth with Class V restorations were divided into three groups. Microleakage was measured using an ordinal scale of 0–4, as given by Khera and Chan, in increasing order of dye penetration, which was observed under a microscope. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study was conducted in sound human extracted premolars in which Standardized Class V cavities were prepared. Teeth were randomly and equally assigned to three groups (GC Fuji II LC, GC G-Aenial anterior composite resin, and GC Equia forte fil). Teeth were sectioned longitudinally into two halves using diamond discs and the sectioned halves of the teeth were evaluated for dye penetration under stereomicroscope. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Intergroup comparison of mean dye penetration scores were compared using the Kruskal–Wallis test along with post hoc pairwise comparison by Mann Whitney U test. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: All the three groups (GC Fuji II LC, GC G-Aenial anterior composite resin, and GC Equia forte fil) tested showed microleakage at the tooth restoration interface. It was evident that microleakage was found to be highest with the Fuji II LC, both at occlusal and cervical levels. GC Equia forte exhibited the best performance in limiting microleakage around the restoration margins.