Effect of phytic acid etchant on the structural stability of demineralized dentine and dentine bonding

This study examined the effect of phytic acid (IP6) in stabilizing the morphology of dentine collagen network and resin-dentine bonding.

Dentine beams were fully demineralized with 10% phosphoric acid (PA) or 1% IP6 (pH 1.2). PA-demineralized beams were divided into three groups: (a) no further treatment (control), (b) treatment with 5% glutaraldehyde (GA) for 1 h and (c) treatment with 1% IP6 (pH 7) for 1 h. IP6-demineralized beams received no further treatment. The beams were then subjected to ultimate tensile strength (UTS) testing. Dentine micromorphology evaluation was performed using a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Dentine disks were etched with 35% PA for 15 s or 1% IP6 for 30s. PA-etched dentine disks were divided into three groups as (a), (b) and (c) as for UTS testing, but the treatment with GA or IP6 was done in 1min. For microtensile bond strength (µTBS) testing, flat dentine surfaces etched with PA or IP6 were blot-dried (wet dentine) or air-dried for 10s (dry dentine) and bonded with an etch-and-rinse adhesive followed by composite build-up.

IP6-demineralized dentine showed significantly higher UTS, when compared to PA-demineralized dentine. GA and IP6 significantly improved UTS of PA-demineralized dentine. FE-SEM observation revealed that dentine collagen network was preserved by GA and IP6. No significant difference in µTBS was found between the wet and dry IP6-etched dentine groups.

IP6 etching showed a structural stabilizing effect on demineralized dentine matrix and produced good resin-dentine bonding, regardless of dentine moistness or dryness.