evaluation of gingival microleakage of colored compomers in primary teeth: an in vitro study

introduction: microleakage is a major factor affecting the longevity of adhesive restorations. colored compomer is a new restorative material that was specifically designed for the restoration of primary molars in different colors, but their microleakage is unknown. this study was carried out to compare the microleakage of a colored compomer (twinky star) and a conventional compomer (f2000) with a microhybride composite (z250). materials and methods: in this in vitro study, class v cavities were prepared on buccal surfaces of 30 caries free extracted primary molars with gingival margins 1 mm below the cemento enamel junction. the teeth were filled as follow: group i: single bond2(3m, espe, usa) + composite (z250, 3m); group ii: solobond m (voco, germany) + colored compomer (twinky star, voco); group iii: single bond2 + compomer (f2000, 3m).after polishing the restorations, all specimens were stored in distilled water for 6 days. then, the samples were thermocycled for 500 cycles and placed in 0.5% fuchsine solution for 48 hours. the samples were sectioned longitudinally and evaluated for microleakage under a stereomicroscope (moticmicro optic, industrial group co, ltd, japan) at 40x magnification. dye penetration was scored on a 0–4 ordinal scale. data were analyzed using spss 14, kruskal-wallis, and mann whitney ranks tests. the level of significance was set at p < 0.05. results: there was no significant difference in the gingival microleakage of twinky star and z250 (p = 0.374), but the difference was significant between these two materials and f2000 compomer (p < 0.05). the most microleakage was observed in f2000 compomer. conclusion: according to this study, due to their relatively low microleakage, special glitter, attractiveness to children, and release of fluoride, colored compomers might be an appropriate restorative material for restoration of primary teeth.