A randomized five-year clinical study of a two-step self-etch adhesive with or without selective enamel etching

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the five-year clinical performance of a two-step self-etch adhesive in non-carious cervical sclerotic lesions with or without selective acid-etching of enamel margins. A total of 104 cervical restorations in 22 patients (46-64 years) were bonded following either self-etch approach (AdheSE non-etch) or a similar application, including selective acid-etching of enamel margins (AdheSE etch), and were restored with resin composite. The restorations were evaluated at baseline and after one, two, three and five-years (84 restorations in 19 patients) according to the USPHS criteria. Data were analyzed using McNemar's test. Cumulative retention rates for the non-etch and etch groups were 82.6% and 86.1% respectively. No significant differences were detected in the retention rates, marginal adaptations at dentin side and secondary caries between the groups. After five-years, the clinical performance of the two-step self-etch adhesive with or without selective acid-etching of enamel margins, was acceptable.