Data sources: Studies were sourced using Biomed Central, Cochrane Oral Health Reviews, the Cochrane Library, Directory of Open Access Journals, Expanded ASAP Plus, the MetaRegister of Controlled Trials (www.controlled-trials.com/), Medline (PubMed) Science-Direct, Research Findings Electronic Register, and BBO/LILACS.
Study selection: Clinical trials and systematic reviews relevant to the review objective published in English, German, Portuguese or Spanish were included after independent review by two reviewers; disagreements were resolved by discussion and consensus.
Data extraction and synthesis: Data extraction and quality assessment was undertaken independently in duplicate by two reviewers. The outcome measure for the caries preventive effect was caries-absence on sealed teeth. A meta-analysis was conducted.
Results: Out of 25 selected studies, 11 met the inclusion criteria (eight were trials and three were systematic reviews) with six of these being included in a meta-analysis. The pooled odds ratio was 0.96 (95% confidence interval, 0.62-1.49), indicating no difference in the caries-preventive effect of glass ionomer cements (GIC) and resin-based fissure sealant material.
Conclusions: GIC and resin-based sealants exhibited significant caries-preventive effects. This review found no evidence that either material was superior to the other in the prevention of caries. Therefore both materials appear to be equally suitable as fissure sealant materials.