Clinical Effectiveness of Composite Resin Bonded with Universal Adhesive for the Restoration of Non-Carious Cervical Lesions Using Air Abrasion: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Restorative treatment is very challenging for non-carious cervical lesions (NCCLs) due to functional and structural complexities. The purpose of this randomised controlled trial (RCT) was to evaluate the clinical performance of nanocomposite restorations bonded using universal adhesive in self-etch mode with and without air abrasive surface treatment for NCCLs. A total of 70 NCCLs, from a group of consenting patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, were recruited for the study. The study was carried out following CONSORT guidelines. Block randomisation was done for equal allocation of lesions into; Group 1 (surface treatment with alumina air abrasion) and Group 2 (control group without mechanical surface treatment). The lesions were restored with nanocomposite using a universal bonding agent in self-etch mode. The clinical performance of the restorations was evaluated by two examiners using modified United States Public Health Service (USPHS) criteria at baseline, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. A Chi-square test was performed for inter-group comparison. Cochran's Q test and Dunn's post hoc analysis were used for intra-group comparison. The inter-group comparison revealed no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control group for all the parameters assessed. With the intra-group analysis, it was found that there was a significant decrease in the performance of the restorations concerning marginal staining, marginal adaptation and surface texture during the evaluation period (p < 0.05). However, all of them demonstrated clinically acceptable performance. According to the results of this RCT, it was concluded that airborne particle abrasion of NCCLs did not improve the clinical performance of nanocomposite resin bonded using universal adhesive.