BACKGROUND Marginal integrity of glass ionomer as a restorative material is an important factor for the longevity of the restoration. Class V and cervical abrasions are the most critical and challenging lesions for restorations. The choice of material for restoring class V and cervical abrasions is glass ionomer cement (GIC). Sensitivity to moisture contact during the early setting stages is the drawback of GIC. To overcome the drawback, modifications of glass ionomer cement were made by the addition of chitosan. Chitosan (CH) is a natural linear polysaccharide obtained partially and fully by deacetylated chitin compounds, which are found in crab and shrimp shells, with properties like nontoxicity, biodegradability, bioadhesive, biocompatibility, and biorenewabilty which has led to its use in various fields. Thus, this study intended to evaluate the microleakage of conventional glass ionomer cement and chitosan modified glass ionomer cement using a spectrophotometer. METHODS 60 teeth extracted for orthodontic propose were selected for the study and randomly divided into two groups, class V cavities were prepared on the buccal surface and samples were restored with conventional glass ionomer cement and chitosan modified glass ionomer cement respectively, teeth were immersed in 0.5 % methylene blue for 24 hours and assessed using a spectrophotometer. RESULTS The data were analysed using the Unpaired T - test, and with statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) for Windows, version 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., USA). The confidence interval was set at 95 % and values of P < 0.05 were interpreted as statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS The study concluded that the addition of chitosan improves the mechanical properties of conventional glass ionomer cement, and a spectrophotometer can be used as a better evaluation tool in assessing microleakage. KEY WORDS Chitosan Modified GIC, Glass Ionomer Cement, Microleakage, Spectrophotometer
Biological and mechanical properties of an experimental glass-ionomer cement modified by partial replacement of CaO with MgO or ZnO
