Evaluation of Marginal Adaptation and Wear Resistance of Nanohybrid and Alkasite Restorative Resins

Introduction: Polymerisation shrinkage stresses developed during curing of adhesive resin cements may cause debonding at the margins of cavity leading to microgap formation with secondary caries and consequently restorative failure. Thus, a restoration should have good marginal integrity and wear resistance to obtain high success with clinical longevity. Aim: To compare the influence of thermo-mechanical stresses on marginal quality and wear of class II Mesio-Occluso-Distal (MOD) restorations filled with Solare Sculpt or Cention N. Materials and Methods: An in vitro study was conducted at GITAM Dental College and Hospital, Visakhapatnam on 80 human extracted mandibular molars by preparing mesioocclusal-distal class two cavities that restored either with Solare Sculpt or Cention N resin composites. Baseline evaluations were recorded for marginal gaps (in µm) through Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and the weights of the samples were recorded by an electronic balancing instrument to measure the amount of wear (in grams). Following thermo-mechanical cyclic loading, all the restored teeth were evaluated again to record the same parameters. The statistical analysis was done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) programme for windows version 22.0 (IBM, NY) software. An independent t-test for intergroup comparison and a dependent t-test for intragroup comparisons were done to analyse the tested parameters with the significance level established at (p≤0.05). Results: In intergroup comparison, no difference in marginal adaptation was observed before thermo-mechanical loading between two materials with a p-value of 0.3625, but after thermomechanical loading Cention N exhibited significantly superior marginal adaptation with a p-value of 0.0374. Both the materials have shown a significant difference in the marginal adaptation after thermo-mechanical loading in the intragroup comparison with Cention N (0.0002) and Solare sculpt (0.0001) p-values. The wear rate was not different statistically between the materials with a p-value of 0.7144 before thermo-mechanical loading and 0.2285 after thermo-mechanical loading. Conclusion: Marginal adaptation of Cention N was superior to Solare Sculpt, whereas both the materials exhibited a similar wear rate