Effect of ozone pretreatment on the microleakage of pit and fissure sealants

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. 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). Ozone pretreatment favorably affected the marginal sealing ability of the tested fissure sealants.