Influence of ultrasound or halogen light on microleakage and hardness of enamel adjacent to glass ionomer cement.

BACKGROUND The use of external sources of energy may accelerate the setting rate of glass ionomer cements (GICs) allowing better initial mechanical properties. AIM To investigate the influence of ultrasound and halogen light on the microleakage and hardness of enamel adjacent to GIC restorations, after artificial caries challenge. DESIGN Cavities were prepared in 60 primary canines, restored with GIC, and randomly distributed into three groups: control group (CG), light group (LG) - irradiation with a halogen light-curing unit for 60s, and ultrasonic group (UG) - application of ultrasonic scaler device for 15s. All specimens were then submitted to a cariogenic challenge in a pH cycling model. Half of sample in each group were immersed in methylene blue for 4h and sectioned for dye penetration analysis. The remaining specimens were submitted to Knoop cross-sectional microhardness assessments, and mineral changes were calculated for adjacent enamel. RESULTS Data were compared using Kruskal-Wallis test and two-way ANOVA with 5% significance. Higher dye penetration was observed for the UG (P<0.01). No significant mineral changes were observed between groups (P=0.844). CONCLUSION The use of halogen light-curing unit does not seem to interfere with the properties of GICs, whereas the use of ultrasound can affect its marginal sealing.