Durability of the bond strength of self-adhesive resin cements to human dentin

This study subjected two self-adhesive resin cements and two conventional resin cements to dry and aging conditions, to compare their microtensile bond strengths (microTBS) to dentin. Using four different luting systems (n = 10), 40 composite resin blocks (each 5 x 5 x 4 mm) were cemented to flat human crown dentin surfaces. The specimens were stored in water for 24 hours (37 degrees C), at which point each specimen was sectioned along two axes to obtain beams that were divided randomly into two groups: dry samples, which were tested immediately, and samples that were subjected to accelerated aging conditions (12,000 thermocycles followed by storage for 150 days). The microTBS results were affected significantly by the luting system used (P < 0.0001). Only the microTBS of Rely-X Unicem was reduced significantly after aging; the microTBS remained stable or increased for the other self-adhesive resin cement and the two conventional cements.