Effect of Ozone Pretreatment on the Microleakage of Pit and Fissure Sealants

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of ozone pretreatment on the microleakage and marginal integrity of pit and fissure sealants placed with or without a self-etch 6th generation adhesive. STUDY DESIGN: Freshly-extracted, human third molars were randomly assigned into two main groups (n = 48): Group A: Fissures were pretreated with ozone; Group B: Fissures were left untreated. The teeth were further randomly divided into two subgroups (n = 24/each) so that half of teeth were sealed with a conventional fissure sealant (Fissurit F, Voco, Germany), while the remaining half received the same sealant bonded with a self-etch adhesive (Clearfil Protect Bond, Kuraray, Japan). Following thermal cycling (1000X), the specimens were subjected to dye penetration within 0.5% basic fuchsin for 24h. The extent of dye penetration was measured by image analysis. Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for statistical analysis of the data (p = 0.05). Two randomly-selected sections from each group were observed under SEM RESULTS: In all groups, ozone pretreatment significantly reduced the extent of microleakage (p < 0.001). SEM investigation demonstrated better adaptation of the sealants in ozone-pretreated groups. Clearfil Protect Bond did not improve the marginal seal of Fissurit F (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Ozone pretreatment favorably affected the marginal sealing ability of the tested fissure sealants.