Purpose: Pit and fissure sealants are widely used in the prevention of initial occlusal caries. The purpose of this study was to determine whether fluoride releasing pit and fissure sealants regain their antibacterial properties after rinsing with a fluoride solution.
Method: Helioseal F, Ultraseal XT, Dyract Seal, and GC Fuji TRIAGE were placed on the sidewalls of the wells of a 96-microtiter plate. After polymerization and a 30 day aging process, the samples were rinsed daily with a 0.05% NaF solution for 14 days. Twenty four hours after the last fluoride rinse, freshly grown Streptococcus mutans cells (circa 1 x 106) were placed on the surface of each sample for 1 hour at 37 degrees C. Growth medium was then added to each well and bacterial growth was followed for 24 hours in a temperature-controlled spectrophotometer. Similar experiments were conducted on samples 48 hours and 72 hours after the last fluoride rinse.
Results: The results showed that both GC Fuji TRIAGE and Dyract Seal possessed antibacterial properties 24 hours after the last fluoride exposure. GC Fuji TRIAGE maintained potent antibacterial properties 48 hours after the last fluoride rinse. 72 hours after the last fluoride rinse none of the materials showed any antibacterial properties.
Conclusions: None of the tested materials showed any antibacterial properties after a 30 day aging process An aging process of all tested sealant materials, for 30 days, resulted in a complete elimination of their antibacterial properties. After a daily 30 second rinse for two weeks with a 0.05% NaF solution, the antibacterial attributes of the glass-ionomer and the compomer based sealants were regained.