Bond strength comparison of 2 self-etching primers over a 3-month storage period

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the shear-peel bond strength of 2 self-etching primer systems, Transbond Plus (3M/ Unitek, Monrovia, Calif) and First Step (Reliance Orthodontic Products, Itasca, Ill), with their respective adhesives, and compare them with a control adhesive system (Transbond XT, 3M/ Unitek) over a 3-month period. Two hundred seventy extracted human premolars were obtained and randomly divided into 9 groups of 30 teeth. Metal orthodontic brackets were bonded to the enamel, and each adhesive group was stored for 24 horrs (T1), 30 days (T2), or 3 months (T3) in deionized water at 37 degrees C. All bonded specimens were thermocycled at 10 degrees C and 50 degrees C for 24 hours before debonding. Brackets were debonded by using a shear-peel load on a testing machine at a cross-head speed of 2 mm/min. Bond failure was also evaluated. The shear-peel bond strengths of the 3 bonding systems were clinically acceptable with the possible exception of First Step at 30-day storage. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a statistically significant (P < .0001) difference in mean bond strengths between the 3 adhesive systems. The shear-peel bond strength of the adhesives over the 3 time intervals showed statistically significant (P = .005) changes. In each group, there were statistically significant differences in shear-peel bond strength between time intervals T1-T2 and T2-T3 for Transbond Plus and T2-T3 for First Step. The change in mean shear-peel bond strength of the 3 adhesives demonstrated a consistent pattern of behavior over the 3 storage intervals. The lowest mean shear-peel bond strength values were noted at the 30-day storage. Bond failure analysis (adhesive remnant index) demonstrated mainly cohesive bond failures.