Objective: The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate and compare the effect of 10% sodium ascorbate, 6.5% proanthocyanidin, and 5% lycopene on the bond strength of composite resin to bleached enamel. Materials and Methods: Labial enamel surfaces of 100 extracted human maxillary central incisors were used in this study. Twenty teeth served as group I (control) and received no bleaching treatment. The remaining 80 teeth were randomly divided into four groups of 20 teeth each, based on the antioxidant used as follows: group II- bleaching with 35% carbamide peroxide gel for 30 min without the use of an antioxidant, group III- bleaching followed by use of 10% sodium ascorbate solution, group IV- bleaching followed by use of 6.5% proanthocyanidin, and group V- bleaching followed by use of 5% lycopene. These groups were further subdivided into two subgroups of 10 teeth each, based on whether composite buildup was done immediately (subgroup A) or after a delay of 2 weeks (subgroup B) post bleaching. Shear bond strength of the specimens was tested under universal testing machine. The data were tabulated and statistically analyzed. Results: Significantly higher shear bond strength values were observed in teeth treated with control group prior to bonding, followed by sodium ascorbate group. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, it can be concluded all the antioxidants used in this study increased the bond strength of bleached enamel. Among the antioxidant groups, sodium ascorbate showed significantly higher bond strength compared to proanthocyanidin and lycopene.

Background: Freshly mixed root canal sealers when proximate the periapical tissues, trigger varying degrees of cytotoxicity/inflammatory reactions. Simvastatin, a class of the drug statin, is a widely used cholesterol-lowering agent with additional anti-inflammatory activities. This study assessed the effects of simvastatin on cytotoxicity and the release of IL-6 (Interleukin-6) production when incorporated in zinc oxide eugenol and methacrylate resin-based sealers. Methods: Experimental groups consisted of conventional zinc oxide eugenol and methacrylate based-EndoREZ sealers (ZE & ER respectively) and 0.5 mg/mL simvastatin incorporated sealers (ZES & ERS). L929 mouse fibroblast cells were exposed to freshly mixed experimental sealers and evaluated for cytotoxicity (MTT assay) and inflammation levels (inflammatory marker IL-6 for ELISA) at various time intervals (0h, 24h and 7th day). The values were compared to the cell control (CC; L929 cells alone) and solvent control (SC; L929 cells + DMSO) groups. All the experiments were conducted in triplicates and subjected to statistical analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics software. Non parametric tests were conducted using Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman tests for inter-group and intra-group comparisons respectively. Pairwise comparison was conducted by post hoc Dunn test followed by Bonferroni correction. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: All the experimental groups (ZE, ER, ZES, ERS) exhibited varying degree of cytotoxicity and IL-6 expression compared to the control groups CC and SC. The cell viability for ZE and ER decreased on day 7 as compared to 24 h. ZES and ERS had higher viable cells (75.93% & 79.90%) compared to ZE and ER (54.39% & 57.84%) at all time periods. Increased expression of IL-6 was observed in ZE & ER (25.49 pg/mL & 23.14 pg/mL) when compared to simvastatin incorporated ZE & ER (ZES-12.70 pg/mL & ERS-14.68 pg/mL) at all time periods. Highest level of cytotoxicity and inflammation was observed in ZE compared to all the other groups on day 7. Conclusions: Addition of 0.5 mg/mL of simvastatin to the sealers (ZES and ERS) decreased the cytotoxicity in the freshly mixed state and reduces their inflammatory effect.