ABSTRACT
AIM: This was to assess the effect of bevelling the margins of fissures on buccal surfaces in permanent molars on marginal microleakage of fissure sealants. METHODS: The in vitro study was performed on buccal surfaces of 20 extracted permanent third molars, randomly divided into two groups of 10 teeth. Group I: performing enameloplasty (opening the fissures using fissurotomy bur), conditioning with phosphoric acid (37% phosphoric acid for 20 s), placing bonding (enamel bonding agent), and then fissure sealant. Group II: all stages were similar to group I, except for bevelling the margins of buccal fissures (0.5 mm bevel) after enameloplasty. Teeth were then thermocycled, stained with 0.5% basic fuchsin, sectioned and examined for marginal microleakage. The Mann-Whitney test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: No dye penetration was seen in Group II (with bevel), but there was a 60% microleakage in Group I (without bevel) (p=0.005). CONCLUSIONS: In permanent molar teeth, bevelling the margins of fissures on the buccal surfaces appears to reduce the marginal microleakage of fissure sealants.
