Artificial formed caries-like lesions around esthetic restorative materials.

Dental restorations fail for a variety of reasons. Secondary caries is one of the primary causes of failure of dental restorations. One method for reducing frequency and severity of this problem is the use of fluoride containing restorative materials. The ability of a material to inhibit secondary caries formation is an important clinical therapeutic property. This investigation assessed the capacity of esthetic restorative materials to resist caries in vitro. Class V cavities were prepared in buccal and lingual surfaces of 50 extracted sound third molars. The occlusal and gingival cavosurface margin of each preparation was on enamel surface. The five materials were used: Conventional glass ionomer cement Ceramfil beta (PSP), two polyacid modified resin composites Compoglass (Vivadent) and Dyract (Dentsply/DeTrey), non fluoride releasing composite resin Valux Plus (3M) and fluoride releasing composite resin Tetric (Vivadent). After 10 weeks in an acid gel for caries-like lesion formation, the teeth were sectioned occluso-gingivally through the middle of the restorations and examined by polarized light microscopy, while immersed in water. The statistical analysis of the results showed that secondary caries initiation and progression might be reduced significantly when fluoride-containing materials were placed. The conventional glass ionomer cement (Ceramfil beta) provided the highest protection against caries attack and the non-fluoride releasing composite resin (Valux Plus) restoration provided the least (p<0.05).