• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.440-447
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• 2009

This study was performed to compare the wear resistance of sealant and flowable resins for analyzing the effect of flowable resin as a sealant in preventive resin restorations. Specimens were made and Vicker's hardness number and surface roughness were measured. SEM observations of the polished and abraded surfaces were established. Kruskal-Wallis rank test and Mann-Whitney U test at the significant level of ${\alpha}$=0.05 were used. The following results were obtained: 1. The microhardness was decreased among groups in following order: Z350 (3M ESPE, U.S.A), Estelite (Tokuyama Dental, Japan) and Ultraseal (Ultradent, U.S.A). There were significant differences in all groups (p<0.0001). 2. The surface roughness was decreased among groups in following order: Ultraseal XT plus, Palfique Estelite LV and Filtek Z350 flowable. However, there is no statistically significant differences in roughness among Estellite, Z350 and Ultraseal at the significance level of ${\alpha}$=0.05, with p=0.116 3. SEM observation of the unworn and worn surfaces revealed the qualitative differences in the wear appearance among groups. The results in this study indicate that flowable resin is better than sealant in aspect of physical properties.