efficacy of glass ionomer cements for prevention of white spot lesions during orthodontic banding: a randomized clinical trial

objectives: this study aimed to compare the incidence of white spot lesions (wsls) around orthodontic bands following the application of two glass ionomer (gi) cements namely gc gold label and gc fuji plus for six to 12 months. materials and methods: a total of 186 permanent first molars of orthodontic patients requiring banding of at least two permanent first molars were chosen. the teeth were examined for caries and presence of wsls by visual inspection and by diagnodent (scores 0-29). orthodontic bands were randomly cemented to the right or left molars using gc gold label or gc fuji plus gi cements. samples were randomly divided into three groups and bands were removed after six, nine and 12 months in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively. the teeth were then examined for caries and presence of wsls by visual inspection. diagnodent was used on the buccal and lingual surfaces to determine the presence of wsls. the data were statistically analyzed using one-way anova, multivariate repeated measures anova, the kruskal wallis and the mann-whitney tests. results: totally 174 teeth were evaluated. diagnodent scores were not significantly different before cementation and after removal of bands in buccal and lingual surfaces of the teeth in the two cement groups. lesions simulating wsls were seen in 21 out of 174 teeth but diagnodent scores were not indicative of caries. conclusion: remarkable wsls were not detected visually or by diagnodent at six, nine or 12 months following the cementation of bands with two gi cements.