The success rates of a glass ionomer cement and a resin-based fissure sealant placed by fifth-year undergraduate dental students

AIM: To evaluate retention and caries prevention of a glass-ionomer cement (GIC) and a resin-based fissure sealant placed by fifth-year undergraduate dental students. METHODS : The study was conducted according to a split-mouth, randomised clinical trial. Children with at least one pair of caries-free permanent first molars with deep pits and fissures were included in the study. The children were selected from a population that had a high risk for dental caries. Sealant materials were applied by fifth-year undergraduate dental students on 346 fissures of the first permanent molars in 173 children. The ages of the children ranged from 7–15 years (mean 9.4). Two researchers at the clinics supervised all of the procedures. Intra-examiner reproducibility and inter-examiner reproducibility were 0.90 and 0.86, respectively, for the clinical assessment of sealant retention and caries evaluation. RESULTS : GIC sealants were completely lost in 31.9% and resin-based sealants in 16.6% (p0.05). CONCLUSIONS : The retention of GIC sealants was markedly inferior to the retention of resin-based sealants; however, GIC when used as a pit and fissure sealant was slightly more effective in preventing occlusal caries.