Hardness, elasticity, and ultrastructure of bonded sound and caries-affected primary tooth dentin

Biomechanical properties of bonded dentin are important factors for resin restoration. We evaluated the hardness and elastic modulus of bonded sound and caries-affected primary tooth dentin using a one-step adhesive system, and observed the microstructure of the bonded interface. Six sound and six carious primary teeth were used. For sound teeth, flat occlusal dentin surfaces were prepared with a water-cooled high-speed diamond bur. For carious teeth, infected dentin was stained with a caries detector and removed with a water-cooled low-speed round steel bur and hand instruments. The prepared dentin was bonded with One-Up Bond F Plus (Tokuyama Dental Co., Tokyo, Japan). The resin-dentin interface and dentin beneath the interface were measured with a nano-indentation tester and observed with SEM and TEM. For both the carious and sound teeth, there was no significant difference between the hardness of the interfacial dentin and dentin 10-80 microm beneath the interface. However, the Young's modulus of the interfacial dentin was significantly lower than the dentin 40-80 microm (carious teeth) or 50-80 microm (sound teeth) beneath the interface. Both the hardness and Young's modulus of the interfacial dentin were not significantly different between the carious and sound teeth. Compared to the sound dentin, the hybrid layer on the caries-affected dentin was thicker and exhibited more complicated morphologic features. The thickness of the hybrid layers was generally less than 1 microm.