The Influence of Composite Resin Type and Light Curing Source on the Microleakage of Composite Restorations

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of composite resin type and light curing source on the microleakage of composite restorations. The material consisted of 48 Class V cavities prepared on 24 extracted human premolars. The cavities were divided into two groups (n = 24), depending on the applied composite resin (flowable Filtek Ultimate vs universal Valux Plus). The division into two subgroups (n = 12) was dependent on the used light curing source (halogen ESPE Elipar Highlight vs LED Twinlex Blue Lex). The evaluation of composite restorations microleakage was performed using the dye penetration method with 1% methylene blue solution. The dye penetration was assessed after the longitudinal cut of the teeth. It was ranked according to the scale of 0-4. The highest microleakage score was in the group with flowable composite and halogen light (2.92 +/- 1.16), and the lowest in the group with universal composite and LED light (0.75 +/- 1.36). Mann-Whitney test showed that there was a statistically significant difference in the composite restorations microleakage between the following groups: flowable/halogen vs universal/halogen, flowable/LED vs universal/LED and flowable/halogen vs universal/LED (p < 0.05). It can be concluded that the influence of composite resin type on composite restorations microleakage is higher than of the light curing source.