ABSTRACT
Study objective: White spot lesions are unwelcomed side effects of fixed appliances that compromise the treatment outcome. Recently the infiltration of white spot lesions has been introduced as a viable treatment alternative and the objective is to evaluate the colour improvement, stability against discolouration and abrasion resistance following resin infiltration and resin infiltration following Microabrasion..
Materials and methods: This study design is an in vitro prospective study that included 45 teeth extracted for orthodontic purposes. Artificial white spot lesions were created in the enamel and teeth were randomly allocated to three groups, then the teeth were treated with infiltration (Icon) and infiltration following Microabrasion (Opalustre) or remained untreated (control). The three groups were then subjected to Thermocycling, tooth brush abrasion and discolouration then visible colour change and abrasion resistance were measured.
Results:When ΔE was calculated between the baseline measurements and those after white spot lesions there was a clinical and statistical color change in the three groups, in group II (the combined treatment group) the calculated ΔE between baseline measurements and those taken after treatment and after aging the mean color difference was less than that in group III (only resin infiltration group). Under SEM after aging all the treated surfaces of the specimens in group II were smooth with no microcracks while in group III the treated surfaces showed smooth areas and other areas showed microfissures and microcracks.
Conclusions:When microabrasion preceded resin infiltration in the treatment of WSLs, it improved the color matching immediately after treatment application and showed better performance after aging procedures. It also produced smooth surface free from microcracks under SEM.