An in vitro comparison of acid etched vs. nonacid etched dentin bonding agents/composite interfaces over primary dentin.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate acid etchant penetration on dentin bonding agents and its effect on the composite resin bond strength. Forty primary molars were mounted, then the buccal and lingual surfaces were prepared into dentin. The teeth were divided into four groups of 10, and four dentin bonding agents were placed on the buccal and lingual surfaces of exposed dentin, as recommended by the manufacturers. One surface of each tooth was etched randomly for 60 sec with 35% phosphoric acid. A standardized tube of composite resin was placed on each dentin surface and polymerized for 60 sec. The tubes were sheared off with an Instron Testing Machine. The specimens then were sectioned to be examined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results demonstrated shear strengths (kg/cm2) of etched (e) and unetched (u) bonding agents to be: Scotchbond (3M Dental Products, St. Paul, MN) (e) 116.7 +/- 37.7, (u) 116.7 +/- 63.0; Scotchbond 2 (3M Dental Products, St. Paul, MN) (e) 112.0 +/- 40.6, (u) 127.0 +/- 38.7; Gluma (Bayer Dental, Leverkusen, Federal Republic of Germany) (e) 80.1 +/- 21.7, (u) 107.0 +/- 16.6; Bondlite (Kerr Manufacturing Co., Romulus, MI) (e) 53.4 +/- 34.7, (u) 79.1 +/- 26.3. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated a statistical significance in variance at the P less than 0.001 level. Scheffe's Test indicated no statistically significant differences between the bond strengths of etched vs. nonetched dentin bonding agents and composite resin. SEM evaluation indicated that the acid etchant penetrated none of the dentin bonding agents.