Bonding Performance of Universal Adhesives to Eroded Dentin

Area of Science:

• Dental Materials Science
• Adhesive Dentistry
• Biomaterials

Background:

• Dental erosion is a growing concern, compromising tooth structure.
• Universal adhesives offer versatility but their performance on eroded dentin requires thorough investigation.
• Understanding the impact of different erosive challenges on adhesive interfaces is crucial for clinical success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate microtensile bond strength (µTBS) and nanoleakage (NL) of universal adhesives applied to eroded dentin (ED).
• To compare etch-and-rinse (ER) and self-etch (SE) strategies on ED.
• To characterize dentin surfaces eroded by citric acid and soft drink pH cycling models.

Main Methods:

• Dentin surfaces were eroded using citric acid or soft drink pH cycling.
• Ten universal adhesives were applied using ER or SE strategies.
• µTBS and NL were assessed, and eroded surfaces were examined using SEM.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in µTBS or NL between ER and SE strategies on ED.
• Both µTBS and NL were significantly worse on ED compared to sound dentin (SD).
• Citric acid erosion resulted in more severe dentin changes (enlarged tubules, peritubular dentin loss) than soft drink erosion.

Conclusions:

• pH cycling models negatively impacted the composite/eroded-dentin interface, reducing bond strength and increasing nanoleakage.
• The performance of universal adhesives on eroded dentin was independent of the adhesive strategy (ER or SE).
• Citric acid poses a greater challenge to the integrity of the adhesive interface on eroded dentin.