Evaluation of the ceramic laminate veneer-tooth interface after different resin cement excess removal techniques

Objectives To compare, in vitro, resin cement excess removal techniques at the veneer-tooth interface. Materials and methods Anterior human teeth were restored with ceramic veneers and randomly divided according to the following techniques ( n = 10): removal of excess resin cement with brush and dental floss, followed by light-curing with Valo (Group 1) or Elipar (Group 2) for 1 min and 40 s; tack-curing with Valo (Group 3) or Elipar (Group 4) for 1 s; and tack-curing with Valo (Group 5) or Elipar (Group 6) for 5 s. The tack-curing was followed by removal of excess with probe and dental floss and light-curing for 1 min and 40 s. The area of excess resin cement (mm 2 ) was measured in micro-CT images using AutoCAD program. The failures at the cervical margin in the X , Y , and Z axes (µm) of greater value were measured using the DataViewer program. The specimens were submitted to microleakage with 2% basic fuchsin. Results According to the Kruskal–Wallis and multiple comparison test, the highest area of excess resin cement was found in Group 1 (5.06 mm 2 ), which did not differ statistically from Groups 2 (3.70 mm 2 ) and 5 (2.19 mm 2 ). Groups 2, 3 (1.73 mm 2 ), 4 (1.14 mm 2 ), and 5 (2.18 mm 2 ) did not differ statistically. Group 6 (0.77 mm 2 ) obtained the lowest value, which did not differ statistically from Groups 3 and 4. According to the Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn test, there was no significant difference in failures in X ( p = 0.981), Y ( p = 0.860), and Z ( p = 0.638) axes and no significant difference in microleakage ( p = 0.203) among the groups. Conclusions Tack-curing for 1 s or 5 s, followed by removal of excess resin cement using a probe and a dental floss, tended to result in a lower amount of excess material around the margin. Clinical relevance The technique used for resin cement excess removal influences the amount of excess leaved at the veneer-tooth interface. Tack-curing for 1 s or 5 s is recommended to mitigate the excess resin cement.