Effect of water-soluble photoinitiator on the adhesion between composite and tooth substrate

The effectiveness of a water-soluble photoinitiator in a dentin primer was examined by measuring the tensile bond strength between the composite and tooth substrate treated with the primer. The water-soluble photoinitiator, 2-hydroxy-3-(3,4 dimethyl-9-oxo-9H-thioxanthen-2-yloxy)-N,N,N-trimethyl-1- propanaminium chloride (QTX) was dissolved into an aqueous solution of methoxy-nonaethyleneglycol monomethacrylate (M9G) or poly-N-vinylpyrrolidone (PNVP), and these aqueous solutions were used as primers. The combination of 0.5 M EDTA pretreatment and 1% QTX -35% PNVP aqueous solution priming produced the highest bond strength. A mixture of dentin fractures and interfacial failure between the dentin and the resin was observed in the test specimen. This dentin priming combination was also effective in improving the bond strength to enamel pretreated with EDTA.