Abstract:

Objectives: To evaluate the 36  month clinical performance of a current glass-ionomer restorative system by comparing with a micro-filled resin composite, on Class II cavities.Materials and Methods: Sixty cavities in 26 patients were randomly divided into two groups according to the restorative systems used (n=30); the cavities in Group 1 were restored with a glass-ionomer restorative system (EQUIA/GC); packable glass-ionomer (Fuji IX GP EXTRA/GC)+self-adhesive nano-filled coating (G-Coat PLUS/GC); whereas the ones in Group  2 were restored with a micro-filled composite (Gradia Direct/GC)+a self-etch adhesive (G-Bond/GC). The restorations were evaluated at 1 week (baseline), 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months according to the modified USPHS criteria. The data were statistically evaluated by Pearson Chi-Square test (p=0.05).Results: Fifty-three restorations were evaluated in 23  patients after 36  months.  All the restorations in the two groups were scored as Alpha for recurrent caries, surface texture, postoperative sensitivity and color match. For marginal adaptation, 6 restorations (23.7%) in Group 1 and 8 restorations (29.6%) in Group 2 were scored as Bravo. Two restorations (7.6%) in Group 1 and 5 restorations (18.5%) in Group 2 were scored as Bravo for marginal discoloration. One restoration (3.8%) in Group  1 was scored as Charlie for anatomic form and retention because of marginal fracture within restorative material.  However, there were no significant differences between the clinical performances of the materials (p>0.05).Conclusions: Both materials exhibited a similar and clinically acceptable performance on moderate Class II cavities after 36-months

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