Stability of wet versus dry bonding with different solvent-based adhesives

Objective To evaluate the effects of surface moisture (wet or dry) and storage (24 h or 3 months) on the microtensile bond strength (BS) of resin/dentin bonds mediated by two water/ethanol based adhesives Single Bond, 3M-ESPE, (SB) and Opti Bond Solo Plus, Kerr, (OB), and two acetone-based adhesives, One Step, Bisco, (OS) and Prime&Bond NT, Caulk/Dentsply, (PB). Materials and methods Flat dentin surfaces were polished with 600-grit SiC paper, etched with 35% phosphoric acid for 15 s and rinsed for 20 s. Half the surface was maintained moist and the other half was air-dried for 30 s. Each adhesive was applied simultaneously to both halves, left undisturbed for 30 s and light-cured. Four-mm resin build-ups were constructed incrementally. After storage in water at 37 °C for 24 h, slabs were produced by transversal sectioning and trimmed to an hourglass shape (0.8 mm2). Half of the specimens were tested in tension at 0.6 mm/min immediately after trimming and the other half after 3 months of water storage. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and SNK for each material. Results Both moisture and storage affected BS to dentin, and was material-dependent. Dry bonding affected mostly the acetone-based adhesives. Larger reductions in bond strength were associated with dry bonding after 3 months of water storage. Significance Wet bonding resulted in more stable bonds over 3 months of water storage for most of the materials tested.