Microleakage of Stainless Steel Crowns Placed on Intact and Extensively Destroyed Primary First Molars: An In Vitro Study

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of residual tooth structure on the microleakage of stainless steel crowns cemented with glass ionomer on primary maxillary and mandibular first molars. Methods: Thirty extracted primary molars were divided into 2 groups: group 1 included intact teeth; and group 2 included extensively carious samples. Each tooth received standard preparation, and each crown was luted with G-CEM on its specific specimen. Teeth were loaded vertically and transferred to distilled water. After thermocycling and immersing in methylene blue solution, the teeth were sectioned and examined microscopically for microleakage. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results: All specimens (intact and damaged teeth) had microleakage, although most of these presented only minimum microleakage. No statistically significant differences were found in the microleakage of sound and extensively carious teeth on either the buccal (P=.62) or lingual (P=.65) side. Buccal (P=.73) and lingual (P=.63) surfaces showed similar microleakage scores in primary maxillary and mandibular molars. Conclusions: There was no significant difference in the microleakage of sound or extensively carious teeth and primary maxillary or mandibular first molars