Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tensile bond strength of commercially available fissure sealants to the bovine enamel. Moreover, we evaluated the influence of the combination of fissure sealant (Resin-based or Glass ionomer) and the enamel surface pretreatment reagents (acid etching or conditioner)
The results were as follows:
1. FE-SEM revealed that the degree of decalcification using phosphoric acid etching was greater than that using the conditioner treatment.
2.The tensile bond strengths of resin-based sealant to bovine enamel was significantly higher than that of glass ionomer sealant when both sealants were used according to the instruction of the manufactuer.
3. The tensile bond strength was influenced by a combination of fissure sealants and the enamel surface pretreatment reagents. The bond strength of the resin-based sealant was influenced more by the difference of pretreatment reagents than that of the glass iomomer.
4. When resin-based sealant was applied to the enamel, the mechanical anchorage was a dominant factor for the bond strength to enamel etched with phosphoric acid, resulting in higher bond strength. On the other hand, when glass ionomer sealant was applied to the enamel, the mechanical factor was not a dominant factor for the bond strength due to the lower mechanical properties of glass ionomer selant.
