Resin-bonded prostheses: microleakage and luting agent thickness of etched and cast-meshwork retainers.

The purpose of this study was to compare in vitro marginal leakage, metal surface features, and luting resin film thickness between electrolytically etched and cast mesh resin-bonded retainer designs. The rate of microleakage along an etched metal-composite interface appears to be considerably slower than along a cast mesh-composite interface. Significant differences in surface area between these two retention systems, especially at the margin, is thought to be primarily responsible. Whether such a microleakage difference will be meaningful in terms of clinical longevity remains a matter for further study. Luting resin thickness was found to be significantly less for etched retainers. This may be due to characteristics of framework adaptation to the teeth under the conditions of this investigation.