Dentin surface treatment and bond strength of glass ionomers

This study evaluated the effect of dentin surface treatment on shear bond strengths of two light- cured glass ionomer restorative materials to dentin. Cylinders of Fuji II LC and VariGlass VLC were bonded to dentin surfaces that were untreated, treated with a 10% polyacrylic acid (GC Conditioner), or treated with a dentin bonding agent primer (Prisma Universal Bond 3 Primer). Specimens were thermocycled and tested in shear at 7 days. Data for each restorative material were subjected to one way ANOVA and Tukey's procedure at the 0.05 probability level. For Fuji II LC, mean bond strength to conditioner-treated dentin was significantly higher than mean bond strength to primer-treated dentin and to untreated dentin. For VariGlass VLC, mean bond strength to primer-treated dentin was significantly higher than mean bond strength to untreated dentin. Bond strengths to primer-treated dentin and conditioner-treated dentin were not significantly different.