[Retention of composite inlays in enamel-dentin cavities]

The retention of composite inlays depends on acid-etching of marginal enamel of the preparation. In many cases, only little marginal enamel is available, making loss of retention a liability. The present study evaluated the retention of three brands of composite inlays under various conditions. Inlays were fabricated and cemented in standardized enamel/dentin cavities prepared in extracted human teeth. The force necessary to extract a cemented inlay was used to express the retention of the inlay. The effects of thermocycling and choice of dentin-bonding agent on inlay retention were also determined. Inlays made of Estilux posterior C VS were more retentive than inlays of either Brilliant Dentin or SR-Isosit. The latter two products were found to provide similar retentive strengths. The retention of Estilux posterior C VS and SR-isosit inlays declined when samples were thermocycled. Treatment with Gluma increased retention of inlays, resulting in retentive strengths of the same magnitude for all three inlay systems. The choice of dentin-bonding agent was found to affect composite inlay retention to a greater extent than the choice of either composite brand, mode of inlay curing, or effect of thermocycling.