THE FISSURE PENETRATION AND MICROLEAKAGE OF PIT AND FISSURE SEALANT WITH MECHANICAL PREPARATION

Mechanical preparation has been introduced to provide the sealant retention. The objective of this study was to compare the fissure penetration and the microleakage of pit and fissure sealant using mechanical preparation(mechanical preparation + acid etching) and acid etching only. An additional objective of this study was to compare the fissure penetration and the microleakage of unfilled and filled sealant in both methods. Sixty human premolars extracted for orthodontic purpose were selected. Thirty teeth were acid etched alone and remaining thirty teeth were prepared with a round bur and then acid etched. One-half of teeth in each surface treatment method were sealed with unfilled sealant and the other half were sealed with filled sealant. All of the teeth were thermocycled for 1200 cycles at and immersed in 5% methylene blue for 24 hours. Each tooth was sectioned bucco-lingually at mesial pit and distal pit and examined under a Measurescope. In the case of mechanical preparation, fissure penetration of sealant was significantly increased compared with the case of acid etching only(P