Effect of using self-etching primer for bonding orthodontic brackets

Questions over the use of self-etching primers with composite resin adhesives in the bonding of orthodontic brackets remain unsolved. In addition, there are no previous reports on the efficacy of self-etching primers with resin-modified glass ionomer cements for bonding orthodontic brackets in orthodontic dentistry. The purpose of this study was to determine the shear bond strengths of orthodontic brackets bonded with one of four protocols: (1) a composite resin adhesive used with 40% phosphoric acid, (2) the same composite resin used with Megabond self-etching primer, (3) a resin-modified glass ionomer cement adhesive used with 10% polyacrylic acid enamel conditioner, and (4) the same resin-modified glass ionomer cement used with Megabond self-etching primer. The appearance of the tooth surfaces after acid etching or priming was observed with a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). When used with resin-modified glass ionomer cement, Megabond self-etching primer gave no significantly different shear bond strength compared with polyacrylic acid etching. But when used with composite resin adhesive, Megabond self-etching primer gave significantly lower shear bond strength than phosphoric acid etching. However, the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets bonded with composite resin adhesive after Megabond priming was almost the same as that of brackets bonded with resin-modified glass ionomer cement after polyacrylic acid etching. FE-SEM observation revealed that Megabond self-etching primer produced less dissolution of enamel surface than did phosphoric acid and polyacrylic acid etching. Megabond self-etching primer may be a candidate for bonding orthodontic brackets using the resin-modified glass ionomer cement for minimizing the amount of enamel loss.