Resin-to-enamel bond strengths with various etching times

It has been advocated recently that etching times of enamel be reduced from 60 seconds to as low as 15 seconds. However, the minimal etching time needed to achieve adequate retention of composite resin to enamel has not been identified. In this study, an attempt was made to find the minimal enamel-etching time that still allowed adequate bond strength of composite resin to enamel surfaces. Adequate bond strength was defined as equivalent to the bond strength established for the conventional 60-second etch. Results seemed to indicate that a 5-second etch was sufficient to allow adequate bond strength; however, further study is required to determine the effects of short etching times on microleakage.