The Use of Potassium Iodide in Pediatric Dentistry Does Not Change the Retention of Glass Ionomer Cement on a Dentin Treated with Silver Fluoride: In Vitro Results.

In pediatric and operative dentistry, caries treatment benefits from a therapeutic option based on the use of silver fluoride (AgF) associated with potassium iodide (KI) to avoid dark colorations on dental tissues. The objective of this in vitro study is to evaluate the retention of glass ionomer cement (GIC) on a dentin when treated with AgF and KI. Twenty-two healthy human permanent molars and eight human primary teeth, all free of any decay, were cut to obtain occlusal flat dentinal surfaces and were then treated with AgF for a duration of 60 s. For half of the teeth, a drop of KI was applied for a duration of 30 s. All samples were covered with a plot of GIC and their resistance to shear bond strength was measured. The fracture resistance in both permanent and primary teeth does not show any statistically significant differences whether KI was applied or not. For permanent teeth, the resistance is slightly higher in the group treated with KI than in the group treated with AgF alone. To our knowledge, these data are the first to describe the possible application of KI both on primary and permanent teeth. In any case, further studies are needed to investigate the bond strength between dentin and GIC on a wider range of samples.