comparison of the microleakage of encapsulated and hand-mixed glass ionomer in class v restorations in deciduous teeth

backgrounds the degree of microleakage is one of the main criteria in evaluating the restorative materials such as glass ionomer (gi) restoratives, which are available in two forms: loose powder and liquid form to be hand-mixed or pre-proportioned in a capsule to be mixed mechanically. objectives this study was conducted to compare the microleakage of encapsulated gi restoratives with their hand-mixed equivalent. materials and methods in this interventional (field trial) study, 40 extracted caries-free deciduous teeth were selected. after preparing class v cavities, teeth were divided into two groups. cavities in group one were restored with encapsulated self-cured gi restorative (equia, fuji ix). in the second group, hand-mixed gi restoratives (fuji ix) were used, which were prepared in accordance with the manufacturers’ recommended powder to liquid mixing ratios. after thermo cycling, the samples were immersed in 0.5% methylene blue solution for 12 hours. then, they were sectioned for examination under light microscope. micro leakage of each restoration was evaluated by the depth scale of the dye penetration along the tooth-restoration interface. results statistical analysis by mann-whitney u test showed no significant difference in micro leakage between encapsulated gi restoratives and their hand-mixed equivalents (p < 0.05). conclusions there was no difference between micro leakage of hand-mixed and encapsulated gis and in case of following the manufacturer’s instruction and recommendations, hand-mixed gis could be as efficient as their encapsulated equivalents.