The efficacy of acid etching for removing contamination in layered dental restorations

Contamination between incremental layers of a composite resin restoration can occur during surgical procedures. The present study sought to evaluate how two decontamination treatments affected the shear bond strength between layers of a saliva-contaminated composite resin surface. Forty disks of a nanohybrid composite resin were prepared and divided into four groups (n = 10). The surfaces of all specimens (except for samples in Group 1, the positive control) were contaminated with human saliva. For the negative control samples (Group 2), no decontamination was performed. For Group 3 samples, acid etching was performed and adhesive was applied. For Group 4, surfaces were roughened with a diamond bur prior to acid etching and adhesive application. The specimens were submitted to a shear bond strength test, and the data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey tests (α = 0.05). No significant differences were detected between the mean shear bond strengths of samples in Groups 1, 3, and 4 (p < 0.05). Shear bond strength was significantly reduced in Group 2 samples (p < 0.05). Acid etching and the application of adhesive improved shear bond strength, producing values similar to those in the positive control group.