A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF FLUORIDE-RELEASING COMPOSITE RESIN AND GLASS-IONOMER MATERIALS USED AS FISSURE SEALANTS

Objectives: The objectives of the study were to investigate the clinic al use of two fluoride-releasing fissure sealants and to study fluorid e release under laboratory conditions. Methods: In the clinical part o f the study the two materials, FluroShield and Baseline, were applied to matched contralateral caries-free first permanent molars in 86 chil dren aged 7-8 years. In the laboratory study fluoride release from eac h material was measured using a model cavity system. Results: After 3 years FluroShield was intact on 70% of teeth. Retention was significan tly better on lower molars than upper molars. Baseline was lost from a ll except two teeth within 6 months. After 3 years, caries had affecte d four teeth sealed with FluroShield and 24 teeth sealed with Baseline ; this difference was highly significant. The laboratory study showed that FluroShield released twice as much fluoride over 9 days than did Baseline. Long term studies using FluroShield showed a small steady fl uoride release over 6 months. Conclusions: The conclusion of the study was that FluroShield was a much more effective fissure sealant than B aseline. The clinical performance of FluroShield was comparable to tha t of other inert composite resin sealants and superior to that of fluo ride-releasing sealants used previously. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier S cience Ltd.