Selective carious tissue removal and glass ionomer liner reduction of pulp stress in bulk fill resin composite restorations

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of selective or nonselective carious tissue removal and the use of a resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGIC) liner under bulk fill resin composite restoration on the stress at the pulp chamber, the elastic moduli of hard, firm, soft and intact dentin were calculated using nanoindentation. Post-gel shrinkage of the bulk fill resin composite and RMGIC were determined using the strain-gauge method. Six finite element models were created by using digital radiography with the combination of two study factors: a) carious tissue removal: selective removal or nonselective removal of carious tissue, and b) use of RMGIC liner: with or without 1.0 mm of RMGIC liner. The modified von Mises stresses (mvm) (MPa) were extracted on the nodes of the internal wall of the pulp ceiling chamber at 100 N occlusal loading. Data were analyzed descriptively and recorded quantitively. Both study factors influenced the stress distribution. The mvm stress during the restorative procedure was higher for nonselective carious tissue removal without RMGIC (25.9 MPa) and lower for selective carious tissue removal associated with RMGIC (13.5 MPa). The dentin elastic modulus increased from soft carious (3.6 ± 0.3 MPa) to firm carious (5.2 ± 1.0 MPa) to hard carious (10.9 ± 1.2 MPa) to intact dentin (22.7 ± 3.0 MPa). Molars with carious lesions showed high mvm stress at the pulp ceiling (89.6 MPa) and at fragilized coronal structure remaining. Selective carious tissue removal followed by restoration using a Vitrebond liner and Tetric N-Ceram Bulk fill reduced the stress at the pulp chamber ceiling.