Influence of storage time on bond strength of self-etching adhesive systems to artificially demineralized dentin after a papain gel chemical–mechanical agent application

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of storage time on the bond strength of self-etching adhesive systems to artificially demineralized dentin submitted to application of a papain-based chemical mechanical agent for carious tissue removal. Materials and Methods Twenty-four blocks of human coronal dentin were randomly divided into 2 groups: (1) restored with a two-step self-etching adhesive system (Clearfil SE Bond); (2) restored with a one-step self-etching adhesive system (One-Up Bond F Plus). After artificial caries induction, the specimens were treated with papain-based gel, received an application of the adhesive system according to the respective group, and blocks of microhybrid resin composite measuring 5.0 mm high and 5.0 mm wide were fabricated incrementally on the tooth, which would later be cut to obtain sticks with a bond area of around 1 mm 2 , for use in the microtensile tests. After this, half of the sticks obtained from each tooth were submitted to the microtensile test 24 h later, while the other half were stored in water, in an oven at 37° C for a period of 180 d. The specimens were submitted to the microtensile test in a Universal Test Machine at a speed of 0.5 mm/min. The surfaces of the fractured test specimens were examined visually under a stereoscopic loupe in order to classify the fracture type. After exploratory analysis of the data, the two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey test were applied. The data on the fracture types were analyzed by the Exact Fisher test. Results No statistically relevant differences were verified among the means of the microtensile bond strength values of the adhesive systems evaluated in the different storage times. Mixed and adhesive fractures types were observed for both groups. Conclusion Storage time did not influence the bond strength of the two-step or one-step self-etching adhesive systems to artificially demineralized dentin submitted to application of a papain-based chemical mechanical agent for carious tissue removal. Both adhesive systems provided similar bond strength at different storage times.