PURPOSE
To examine the microtensile bond strengths (microTBS) of six 1-step and one 2-step self-etch systems to dentin and ground enamel.
METHODS
Resin composite buildups were bonded to buccal and lingual ground enamel surfaces, and to occlusal dentin of third molars using the following 1-step adhesives: Xeno IV (XE), GBond (GB), Clearfil S3 Bond (CS3); Adper Prompt L-Pop (AD); Go (GO) and All Bond SE (1-step; ABSE), in comparison to the 2-steps (All Bond SE; (2-step ABSE) and Clearfil SE Bond (CSE). After storage in water (24 hour/37 degrees C), the bonded specimens were sectioned into beams approximately 0.9 mm2. These beams were tested until failure at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/minute. Data were subjected to appropriate statistical analysis (alpha = 0.05).
RESULTS
The total number of specimens/premature debonding specimens (PDS) for each adhesive were, respectively, in enamel: XE (59/36), GB (63/33), CS3 (62/29), AD (47/19), GO (53/14), 1-step ABSE (61/29), 2-step ABSE (57/14) and CSE (58/13); and in dentin: XE (51/24), GB (50/7), CS3 (53/13), ADP (51/1), GO (43/8), 1-step ABSE (59/2), 1-step ABSE (56/0) and CSE (47/0). The fracture pattern was predominantly adhesive/mixture for all adhesives in dentin (51.5 to 99%) and in enamel (34.8 to 75.4%), however XE (61.2) and GB (52.5) had more than 50% PDS. For ground enamel, no significant difference was detected among materials in the same subgroup (with or without PDS). However, there was a significant difference for all adhesives when subgroups (with and without PDS, respectively) were tested against each other: XE (7.9/10.5 double dagger 19.7/5.5), GB (8.6/10.5 double dagger 17.2/7.4), CS3 (8.8/10.3 double dagger 15.7/5.6), AD (13.0/12.0 = 20.3/8.9), Go (18.2/13.8 = 25.1/10.0), 1-step ABSE (15.9/11.4 = 16.2/5.4), 2-step ABSE (8.4/9.1 double dagger 25.3/7.9) and CSE (17.6/16.3 = 19.9/7.8). For dentin, no difference was found when subgroups for the same adhesive were tested against each other (with or without PDS). However, significantly higher resin-dentin bond strength was observed for adhesives in the following order: CSE (38.5/6.5 = 38.5/6.5) > or = 2-step ABSE (41.4/16.3 double dagger 42.4/19.3) = 1-step ABSE (43.9/17.7 = 44.2/17.1) = AD (34.4/14.2 = 35.2/13.3) < or = CS3 (31.9/19.4 = 40.1/13.4) double dagger GB (14.3/6.3 = 16.3/5.9) = Go (14.2/13.9 = 22.4/12.6) double dagger XE (7.1/5.4 = 9.5/5.1), respectively for with PDS and without PDS. All materials showed similar performance on ground enamel. The performance of one-step self-etch systems to dentin appears to be material-dependent. Adper Prompt L-Pop, Clearfil S3 Bond and the 1-step All Bond SE had microTBS similar to Clearfil SE Bond and the 2-step All Bond SE, while Xeno IV and GBond had significantly lower microTBS values. Go had an intermediate performance.