Technique sensitivity of dentin bonding: effect of application mistakes on bond strength and marginal adaptation

This in vitro study evaluated dentin bond strength and marginal adaptation of direct resin composites according to the manufacturers' instructions and with simulated application errors. One hundred and forty cavities were prepared into disks of freshly extracted human third molars and filled with one resin composite. Dentin adhesives of the third (with self-etching primer: Syntac Classic), fourth (with total etching: Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus) and fifth generation (one-bottle adhesive: Prime&Bond 2.1) were used for bonding. Simulated application mistakes were as follows: 1) prolonged etching; 2) excessive drying after conditioning; 3) drying primers immediately after application and 4) drying primers excessively. After 21 days of storage and 24 hours thermocycling (1150 cycles), replicas were made and push-out testing was performed. Replicas were examined for marginal adaptation using SEM (X200 magnification). Compared with values of the control groups, application errors resulted in dramatically decreased bond strengths and reduced percentages of gap-free margins for all products tested (p < 0.05). Excessive drying after conditioning exhibited significantly less effect for the third generation adhesive than for products requiring total etching/wet bonding.