Effect of nail varnishes and petroleum jelly combinations on glass ionomer dye uptake.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of different brands of nail varnish alone or associated with petroleum jelly as surface protectors for glass ionomer cements by determining dye uptake spectrophotometrically. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three hundred thirty six specimens, 3.0 mm in diameter and 1.0 mm thick, were made with Chelon-Fil (CF) and ChemFil II (CII) and divided into 14 groups for each material. Positive control (A) and negative control (B) specimens were not protected, while experimental specimens were protected with six brands of nail varnish used with and without petroleum jelly. The specimens were immersed in 0.05% methylene blue solution 10 minutes after mixing except for negative control specimens that were immersed in deionized water. RESULTS: Dye uptake (microgram dye/restoration) for CF was: A = 11.3 +/- 3.1; B = 0.0 +/- 0.0 with varnish groups ranging from 0.6 to 2.5 and for CII: A = 12.4 +/- 2.5; B = 0.0 +/- 0.0 with varnish groups ranging from 0.4 to 2.4. The data were analyzed by ANOVA. The dye uptake among the groups was not significantly different (P < 0.01), except for the control group (unprotected cements).