How to bond to root canal dentin

Bonding to root canal dentin may be difficult due to various factors: the structural characteristic of the root canal dentin, which is different from that of the coronal dentin; the presence of the organic tissue of the dental pulp inside the root canal, which has to be removed during the cleaning-shaping of the root canal system; the smear-layer resulted after mechanical instrumentation, which may interfere with the adhesion of the filling materials; the type of the irrigants used in the cleaning protocol; the type of the sealer and core material used in the obturation of the endodontic space; the type of the materials used for the restoration of the endodontically treated teeth. The influence of the cleaning protocol, of the root canal filling material, of the type of the adhesive system used in the restoration of the treated teeth and of the region of the root canal, on the adhesion of several filling and restorative materials to root canal dentin was evaluated in the push-out bond strength test on 1-mm thick slices of endodontically treated human teeth. The results showed that all these factors have a statistically significant influence on the push-out bond strength. Formation of resin tags between radicular dentin and the investigated materials was observed in some of the samples at SEM analysis.