The microtensile bond strength of self-etching adhesives to ground enamel

It is uncertain whether single-phase self-etching adhesives form bonds to enamel as reliable as those of etch-and-rinse adhesives. This study compared the microtensile bond strengths to ground enamel of three self-etching adhesive systems, a self-etching primer system and an etch-and-rinse adhesive system. Human enamel was ground flat with 320-grit silicone carbide paper. The self-etching adhesives iBond (Heraeus Kulzer), Prompt L-Pop (3M ESPE) and Xeno III (Caulk/Dentsply), the adhesive with a self-etching primer Clearfil SE Bond (Kuraray) and the etch-and-rinse adhesive Scotchbond Multipur-pose (3M/ESPE) were applied as directed, followed by a core of the same manufacturers' hybrid resin composite. A microtensile bond strength evaluation was performed after 48 hours of water storage, using untrimmed beams approximately 0.9 mm² in cross-sectional area at a crosshead speed of 0.6 mm/minute. There were no pretest failures in any group, and failures were predominately adhesive or mixed. Adhesion to enamel of Clearfil SE was not significantly different from Scotchbond Multi-Purpose, while the three self-etching adhesive systems demonstrated significantly lower bond strengths (One-way ANOVA, Tukey-Kramer Multiple-Comparison Test, p<0.00001).