effect of two disinfecting agents on the microleakage of resinbased composite restorations in primary teeth

Introduction: disinfection of the cavity preparation after caries excavation can lead to the elimination of bacterial remnants that can be responsible for recurrent caries, postoperative sensitivity, and failure of the restoration. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of two disinfectants on microleakage of composite restorations in primary teeth. methods: in this experimental study, 40 extracted primary canine teeth without caries were randomly divided into four groups of 10 teeth, namely control group (1), pretreatment group with chlorhexidine 2% (2), pretreatment group with sodium hypochlorite 2/5% (3), and pretreatment group with sodium hypochlorite 5% (4). in addition, class v cavities were prepared on all teeth. the cavities were then restored with composite. the teeth were thermocycled and immersed in 2% methylene blue for 24h. microleakage was assessed by dye penetration in the incisal and gingival surface of the teeth using stereomicroscope. data were analyzed in spss software (version 18) through kruskal-wallis and mann-whitney u tests. results: according to the results, the difference among groups was significant (p<0/001). the pair-wise comparison showed significant differences between groups 1 and 2; however, no difference was observed between pretreatment groups with sodium hypochlorite 5% and 2/5%. furthermore, no statistically significant difference was found in terms of incisal and gingival surfaces. conclusion: pretreatment with chlorhexidine and sodium hypochlorite increased microleakage in composite restorations in primary teeth.