Objectives: To assess the cuspal deflection and cervical microleakage of standardised Class II cavities incrementally filled with a dimethacrylate RBC or bulk-fill flowable RBC bases.
Methods: Twenty-four sound upper premolar teeth with Class II cavities were allocated to three groups (n=8). Restoration of the teeth involved the placement of an RBC (GrandioSO) in eight oblique increments (Group A) or Groups B and C were restored to within 2 mm of the palatal cusp in a single increment with bulk-fill flowable RBC bases (SDR and x-tra base) before the two occlusal cavity increments were placed with GrandioSO. Buccal and palatal cusp deflections were recorded postirradiation using a twin channel deflection measuring gauge. Following restoration, the teeth were thermocycled, immersed in 0.2% basic fuchsin dye for 24h, sectioned and examined for cervical microleakage.
Results: The mean total cuspal deflection for the oblique incremental restoration technique was 11.26 (2.56) μm (Group A) and 4.63 (1.19) μm (Group B) and 4.73 (0.99) μm (Group C) for the bulk-fill flowable RBC bases. A significant increase in the mean total cuspal deflection for the incrementally filled GrandioSO compared with the SDR (P=0.007) and x-tra base (P=0.005) restored teeth was evident. No significant difference in the cervical microleakage scores was recorded between groups AC (P>0.05).
Conclusions: The bulk-fill flowable RBC bases significantly reduced cuspal deflection compared with a conventional RBC restored in an oblique incremental filling technique with no associated change in cervical microleakage recorded.
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