EFFECT OF SILVER AND RESIN REINFORCED GLASS IONOMERS ON THE ENAMEL MICROHARDNESS AFTER EXPOSURE TO CARIOGENIC BIOFILM

Abstract

Objective: To assess the superficial microhardness of enamel-restorations margins of glass ionomer cement reinforced with silver (RS), modified with resin (RI) and composite resin (CO) after cariogenic biofilm. Materials and Methods: Thirty bovine enamel blocks with standard cavities were divided into three groups
according to the materials used: RI (Riva Light Cure™, SDI), RS (Riva Silver™, SDI) and CO (Filtek™ Z350 XT, 3M). Half of each enamel block surface was covered by acid resistant varnish. After that, the blocks were exposed to Streptococcus mutans biofilm. The varnish was removed from the blocks and superficial microhardness (MDS) was measured (Knoop, 50 g, 15 s), with five indentations, 100 ?m from each other in three different directions. The data were analyzed by the Shapiro Wilk, Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney tests (p<0.05). Results: MDS analysis indicated that in 50 ?m distance from the restoration, RS group obtained hardness gain (6.31±0.01), unlike RI (-0.36±0.05) and CO (-11.43±0.02) groups that demonstrated significant loss (p<0.05). In other distances did not observe statistical difference between the groups. Regardless of the distance up to 450 ?m, significant high total mineral gain was observed for RS group compared to the CO group; however, RS and RI presented similar enamel microhardness. Conclusion: All glass ionomers
increased microhardness of enamel blocks even in contact with cariogenic biofilm. Although only the silver reinforced glass ionomer prevented demineralization at the margin restorations in 50 ?m from the margin.