One-Year Clinical Evaluation of a Glass Carbomer Fissure Sealant, a Preliminary Study

Abstract - Glass Carbomer® is a new generation of restorative material developed from glass-ionomer cements with possiblity of gradual mineralization into fluorapatite. The aim of this clinical trial was to investigate the retention of Glass Carbomer® fissure sealant after 12 months, in comparison to a commonly used conventional resin-based sealant. Forty-eight teeth in 24 patients [mean (SD) =8 (2.3) years] with well-delineated fissure morphology were randomly divided into two equal groups and sealed with Bis-GMA resin-based Helioseal F (group A, Ivoclar Vivadent, Liechtenstein) and Glass Carbomer (group B, Glass Carbomer® Sealant, Glass Carbomer Products, Leiden, Netherlands) using the split mouth design. Materials were placed and set according to the manufacturer’s instructions using a polymerization unit Bluephase 16i (Vivadent, Liechtenstein). Complete sealant retentions in both groups were 100% and 75% after 6 and 12 months of clinical service, respectively. There were there were no secondary caries lesions in both groups after 6 months; two new carious lesions were detected in both groups after 12 months. The MannWhitney U test revealed no significant difference between the two groups at both evaluations points (P>0.05). Glass Carbomer® material showed a similar retention rate when compared with a resin-based sealant. Future studies are required to examine the long-term performance of Glass Carbomer® sealants.

KEYWORDS: Glass Carbomer, Fluor-Hydroxyapatite, Bis-GMA resin sealant