Physical characteristics of two moisture tolerant fissure sealants immersed in commercial products with different pH range

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to evaluate and compare between four physical variables (sorption, solubility, color change and fluoride release) for glass ionomer (GI) sealant against moisture tolerant resin sealant in solutions with different pH in different time intervals. Materials and methods Thirty discs were prepared from GI Fuji Triage and Embrace WetBond (EWB) resin sealant. Sorption, solubility and color change were measured after different time intervals (1 day, 1 week, and 1 month) of immersion of the specimens in different solution having different pH. In addition 10 disks were assessed for fluoride release of both sealants after being immersed in distilled water. Results EWB showed greater sorption in all media after 1 day and 1 week. GI sealant showed highest water sorption after 1 week and this sorption decreased again after 1 month. GI showed greater initial solubility in Pepsi and water after 1 day (P = 0.016). Pepsi showed higher solubility for EWB while no significant effect was found for GI with different media. The color change was greater for EWB when immersed in Pepsi and ginger. After 1-month storage, the color change was the highest specially for Pepsi for both sealants. Fluoride release was greater for GI compared to EWB. Conclusion Both sealants showed different physical performance depending on the type of immersion media and time period. This is expected to affect their mechanical properties and hence their clinical performance.