Date of Graduation

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

Committee Chair

Peter Ngan

Abstract

The purpose of this in vitro study is to compare the resistance to demineralization between a self etching primer (SEP) and a conventional sealant. 120 tooth samples were assigned to 3 groups: SEP, Sealant, or a Control group with no treatment. After 48 or 72 hours of acidic challenge with ten Cateís solution, 200 µm sections were evaluated for the incidence of lesion, lesion depth, area and total fluorescence using confocal microscopy. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA. Incidence of lesion was 100% in the SEP and Control group and 50% in the Sealant group. Lesion depth (149.9 µm), area (636 µm 2 x102 ) and total fluorescence (252x 104 ) in the SEP group were similar to the Control group but significantly greater (p< 0.05) than those in the Sealant group. The results suggest that application of a SEP provides no resistance to enamel demineralization.

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