Bond strength evaluation of three self-adhesive luting systems used for cementing composite and porcelain

Self-adhesive resin cements were recently introduced with the purpose of simplifying the cementation technique, as they combine the use of adhesive and cement in a single application, eliminating the need for pretreatment of the tooth. In the present study a microtensile bond strength test (μ-TBS) was used to compare three self-adhesives, an etch-and-rinse and a self-etch luting system, in the cementation of resin-based composite (RBC) and ceramic disks to dentin. Freshly extracted molars were transversally sectioned to expose flat, deep dentin surfaces. Cylindrical specimens (5 mm in diameter and 10 mm in height), consisting of RBC disks and leucite-based glass ceramic disks, were produced. The RBC disks were sandblasted with 50-μm Al2O3. The ceramic disks were conditioned with 9.5% hydrofluoric acid gel and silane application. All of the disks were then bonded to dentin surfaces employing five different luting agents: iCEM Self Adhesive (Heraeus Kulzer), MaxCem (Kerr Corporation), RelyX UniCem (3M ESPE), EnaCem HF (Micerium), and Panavia F2.0 (Kuraray-Dental). The products were applied according to the manufacturers' instructions. The specimens were sectioned perpendicular to the adhesive interface to produce multiple beams measuring approximately 1 mm2 in cross section. For each experimental group 12 beams were tested. The preterm failures were also taken into account. All of the specimen preparations were performed by the same operator. The beams were tested under tension at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min until failure. Mean μ-TBS values were calculated for each group. Data were analyzed by a two-way analysis of variance, and multiple comparisons were performed using a Tukey test (α=0.05). The UniCem group showed the lowest number of preterm failures among the tested self-adhesive systems. When premature debondings were included in the mean value calculation, bond strength values for the UniCem group were statistically equal to or even higher than those achieved with the other self-adhesives, although these values were still statistically worse than those obtained using traditional multi-step luting agents.