Microhardness of enamel restored with fluoride and non-fluoride releasing dental materials.

Demineralization caused by frequent ion loss can be detected by a decrease in enamel microhardness. The purpose of this study was to determine the microhardness of the enamel adjacent to restorations with fluoride and non-fluoride dental materials after demineralization and remineralization treatments using crowns of 6 recently extracted unerupted third molars which were sectioned into 4 parts. Five penetrations were made in the enamel of the control group and in the enamel adjacent to restorations made with Vitremer, Heliomolar or Z100, to obtain the Knoop microhardness. There was no significant statistical difference between the microhardness of the enamel of the control group and the enamel adjacent to the restorations made with Vitremer and Heliomolar (p < 0.01), nor between the enamel adjacent to the Heliomolar and Z100 restorations. However, there was a statistically significant difference when the Z100 group was compared to the control group and to the Vitremer group. The results point out that some phenomena occurred which interferred with the ionic loss and, consequently, the microhardness of the enamel of the Vitremer and Heliomolar groups, because it was not possible to observe any difference between the microhardness of the enamel of the control group and the groups restored with Vitremer and Heliomolar.