microleakage of "all-in-one" adhesive systems on enamel and dentinal margins: an in vitro study

objective: the use of presently available dentin bonding systems has greatly reduced mi-croleakage; however, the ideal situation where the adhesive resin completely penetrates the demineralized dentin is not yet achieved. the purpose was to compare the microleak-age of fifth and sixth generation bonding agents at enamel and dentinal margins. materials and methods: class v cavities were prepared at the cej of thirty extracted human premolars. the teeth were divided into three groups (n=10). in group i, cavities were treated with prime&bond; nt; in group ii, unifil bond; and in group iii, prompt l-pop bonding agents were used following which composite resin (z100) was placed incre-mentally. the specimens were stored in an environment of 100% humidity, immersed in a fresh solution of 50% silver nitrate each for 24 hours and then placed in a developing so-lution for 8 hours. after rinsing and being sectioned buccolingually through the center of the restoration, the samples were evaluated under a stereomicroscope at x50 magnificationfor microleakage along occlusal and gingival margins. the data were analyzed using kruskal-wallis and multiple comparison tests. results: there wasa significant difference between the three groups. the fifth generation dentin bonding agent (prime&bond; nt) showed the least amount of microleakage, while the sixth generation ones (unifil bond and prompt l-pop) showed higher amounts at enamel and dentinal margins. conclusion: fifth generation bonding agents seem to generate better results than those of sixth generation.