Objective: To investigate and compare bonding and dentin sealing efficacy of a marketed all-in-one and an experimental model adhesive with minimum effective amounts of acidic monomer and water.
Materials and methods: Composition of model adhesive (NAD) in mass%: UDMA (45), 4-META (20), H2O (7.5), and acetone (27.5). For characterization of a reasonable NAD application procedure shear bond strengths (SBS, n=8) were determined on human enamel and dentin. Clearfil S3 Bond (TSB; Kuraray) served as reference. SBSs were evaluated after 10 min, 1 and 7 days, and 1 month, marginal adaptation (n=8) was assessed in cylindrical butt-joint dentin cavities. Diffusive and convective water fluxes through 1mm thick adhesive-coated dentin disks (n=6) were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed.
Results: SBSs proved that application of NAD in one coat with 20s agitated dwell time was > or =20 MPa, enamel SBSs (24h) were 25 MPa, p>0.05. Dentin SBSs for TSB and NAD were not different (p>0.05) at the four stages (means: 18.9, 23.5, 25.4, and 23.6 MPa). Five and seven of the eight bonded restorations with TSB and NAD were gap-free (p>0.05). Dentin disks treated with EDTA from both sides or one side only were highly permeable for liquid, whereas adhesive-coated dentin disks showed no permeability at 0 and 2.5 kPa water pressure.
Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study the model adhesive tested represents a promising basic composition for all-in-one adhesives, eliminating common problems encountered with single step adhesives such as phase separation and permeability.