The effect of etching on the dentin of the clinical cavity floor

The most conservative cavity preparation, which takes full advantage of chemically adhesive composite resin, involves removal of only the infected outer carious dentin that is stainable by the caries detector. This preparation exposes in the cavity floor either the turbid layer at the top of the inner carious dentin or the underlying transparent layer. Examination by scanning electron microscope revealed that etching the cavity floor demineralized the intertubular dentinal surface slightly and produced tapered, cylindrical holes or ring-shaped holes at the dentinal tubule apertures of the turbid or transparent layer, respectively. The holes were blind with solid floors of intratubular crystal deposits of the transparent layer, suggesting that etching increases permeability little. Placement of the adhesive resin on the etched cavity floors produced a resin-impregnated dentinal layer and tapered, cylindrical or tubular-shaped resin tags, which apparently improved the bond and tubule aperture seal.