Noninvasive pit and fissure sealing: microtensile bond strength to intact bovine enamel of different pit and fissure sealants in a simplified fissure model.

Purpose To measure the microtensile bond strength of different pit and fissure sealants in a simplified fissure model. Materials and methods Twenty extracted bovine mandibular permanent incisors were randomly divided into 4 groups for treatment: G1: 35% phosphoric acid/Clinpro Sealant; G2: 35% phosphoric acid/Delton; G3: Non-Rinse Conditioner/Dyract Seal; G4: 20% polyacrylic acid/Fuji IILC. Each tooth was sectioned into 6 pieces (4 x 6 mm) of buccal enamel. SEM examination was used to confirm the presence of aprismatic enamel on each tooth. Using a spacer, two pieces of etched enamel were secured to a glass slide at a mean distance of 0.6+/-0.1 mm. The space between enamel substrates was then etched/conditioned and sealed with different materials according to the tested groups. By serially cutting each double-bonded sample, multiple beam-shaped specimens about 0.8mm(2) in cross section were obtained and tested in tension (0.5 mm/min) until failure occurred at either one of the two stressed interfaces. Failure modes were classified by stereomicroscopy. Results G1 and G2 showed statistically higher bond strengths than G3 and G4. G4 demonstrated the significantly lowest bond strength. Failures were mostly adhesive in G1, G2, G3, and mainly cohesive/mixed in G4. Conclusion According to this model, resin-based materials (Clinpro Sealant, Delton) showed better microtensile bond strength than compomer (Dyract Seal) or resin-modified glass ionomer (Fuji IILC).