Leakage of Different Luting Cements for Quartz-fiber Post Cementation

OBJECTIVES: Assessment of coronal leakage after quartz-fiber post cementation using adhesive and non-adhesive luting cements.

METHODS: Fourty root canals were prepared to apical size .02/#70 with K-reamers (Dentsply-Maillefer, Ballaigues/Switzerland). Root canals were obturated with AH-Plus sealer (DeTrey-Dentsply, Konstanz/Germany) and gutta-percha (Coltene-Whaledent, Langenau/Germany) and stored for 1 week under moist conditions at 37°C. Post preparation was performed with DT Post burs #3 (VDW-Dentsply, Munich/Germany). Teeth were randomly assigned to 5 groups (grp1-5, n=8) and DT White Posts (VDW-Dentsply) were luted with adhesive resp. non-adhesive cement: grp1: Harvard Cement (Richter & Hoffmann, Berlin/Germany); grp2: Ketac-Cem Aplicap (3M Espe, Seefeld/Germany); grp3: RelyX Unicem (3M Espe); grp4: Panavia-F 2.0/ED-Primer II (Kuraray-Dental, Kurashiki/Japan); grp5: Variolink II/Excite DSC (Ivoclar Vivadent, Schaan/Liechtenstein). Teeth were stored for 1 week under moist condition (100% rel. humidity) at 37°C. Leakage analysis was performed by a dye penetration test (5% aqueous methylene-blue solution/3min centrifugation time at 30g). Serial cross sections were investigated for dye penetration by means of a stereo microscope (magnification: x40).

RESULTS: The following mean leakage values were found (in mm+S.D.): grp1: 8.3+2.2; grp2: 6.9+2.6; grp3: 3.4+1.9; grp4: 5.6+3.2; grp5: 6.1+2.9. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test displayed normal distribution (p>0.05) for each group. Significant differences were detected between groups (ANOVA; p<0.05). RelyX Unicem and Panavia-F 2.0 revealed significantly less leakage compared to the other cements tested (t-test; p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: Within the limits of this study, two adhesive cements revealed better results for cementation of quartz fiber posts showing less leakage in comparison to other cement systems tested.