The evaluation of effectiveness of adhesive systems on dental amalgam restorations

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different adhesive systems in amalgam restorations and their effects on microleakage. Methodology: In this study, 105 caries-free extracted human permanent molar teeth were used. Teeth were randomly assigned to five groups (n=21), and class I cavities were created on the surface of each tooth. The first was a control group to which no adhesive system was applied. Amalgam Liner (VOCO GmbH, Cuxhaven Germany) was applied to Group II, Clearfil SE-Bond (Kuraray Europe GmbH, Frankfurt Germany) was applied to Group III, Panavia F 2.0 (Kuraray Europe GmbH, Frankfurt Germany) was applied to Group IV, Amalgambond Plus (Parkell Inc.Edgewood, NY USA) was applied to Group V, and then amalgam (Tytin, Kerr, California USA) restorations were placed. After the polishing process, samples were subjected to thermocycling 1,000 times. Teeth were sectioned bucco-palatinally/lingually, and microleakage scores of the occlusal walls were evaluated under a stereomicroscope at 15X magnification by a standardized scale ranging from 0 to 4. One tooth was selected randomly from each group for SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), and SEM LEO EVO 40 (LEO Ltd., Cambridge UK) photographs of amalgam-tooth hard tissue interfaces were also taken at different magnifications. The results of the microleakage tests were statistically analyzed by both the Kruskal-Wallis Test and the Mann Whitney U Test. Results: In terms of microleakage among groups, the differences that were determined were significant (p