Does Bleaching Affect the Microleakage of Class II Restoration with Bulk-Fill Composite?

INTRODUCTION: The use of technology in bulk-fill composites (BCs) has reduced the stresses caused by polymerization shrinkage, debonding, microleakage, or posttreatment sensitivity in them. This study was conducted to determine whether bleaching affects the microleakage of class II restoration with bulk-fill material. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This laboratory study was performed on 40 normal human premolars in 4 groups (n = 20). Class II cavities were prepared in mesial and distal surfaces of the teeth with dimensions of 2 × 2 × 4 mm. Then, based on the bleaching process by 20% carbamide peroxide gel and using two types of composites, the restored cavities were randomly divided into 4 groups: (1) CC without bleaching (CC group), (2) BC without bleaching (BC group), (3) CC with bleaching (CCB group), and (4) BC with bleaching (BCB group). Then, the samples were thermocycled for 1000 cycles at a temperature range of 5–55°C, and they were immersed in 0.6% alkaline fuchsine in order to penetrate into the pigment for 24 h. After cutting, the samples were placed under a stereomicroscope (40%) to determine microleakage. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and a p value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: Microleakage was determined in the CC group (0.97 ± 0.42), BC group (1.08 ± 0.54), CCB group (1.19 ± 0.37), and BCB group (0.30 ± 0.47). There were also no significant differences in the mean microleakage between the groups. No cases with zero microleakage (no microleakage) and grade 3 of microleakage (pigment penetration into the axial wall) were observed in the samples. Also, a two-by-two comparison of significant differences between CC and BC groups (p=0.89), CC and CCB groups (p=0.45), CC and BCB groups (p=0.11), BC and CCB groups (p=0.87), BC and BCB groups (p=0.41), and CCB and BCB groups (p=0.86) showed that the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Results showed no difference between microleakage of BC and CC with and without bleaching, and bleaching had the same effect on microleakage of these two types of composites.