Non-thermal atmospheric plasmas in dental restoration: Improved resin adhesive penetration

AbstractObjective estigate the influence of non-thermal plasma treatment on the penetration of a model dental adhesive into the demineralized dentine. s ed dentine surfaces were conditioned with Scotchbond Universal etchant for 15 s and sectioned equally perpendicular to the etched surfaces. The separated halves were randomly selected for treatment with an argon plasma brush (input current 6 mA, treatment time 30 s) or gentle argon air blowing (treatment time 30 s, as control). The plasma-treated specimens and control specimens were applied with a model adhesive containing 2,2-bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloxypropoxy) phenyl]-propane (BisGMA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) (mass ratio of 30/70), gently air-dried for 5 s, and light-cured for 20 s. Cross-sectional specimens were characterized using micro-Raman spectral mapping across the dentine, adhesive/dentine interface, and adhesive layer at 1-μm spatial resolution. SEM was also employed to examine the adhesive/dentine interfacial morphology. s cro-Raman result disclosed that plasma treatment significantly improved the penetration of the adhesive, evidenced by the apparently higher content of the adhesive at the adhesive/dentine interface as compared to the control. Specifically, the improvement of the adhesive penetration using plasma technique was achieved by dramatically enhancing the penetration of hydrophilic monomer (HEMA), while maintaining the penetration of hydrophobic monomer (BisGMA). Morphological observation at the adhesive/dentine interface using SEM also confirmed the improved adhesive penetration. The results further suggested that plasma treatment could benefit polymerization of the adhesive, especially in the interface region. sion gnificant role of the non-thermal plasma brush in improving the adhesive penetration into demineralized dentine has been demonstrated. The results obtained may offer a better prospect of using plasma in dental restoration to optimize adhesion between tooth substrate and restorative materials.