Purpose: High-viscosity glass ionomer cements (HV-GICs) are reinforced with ultrafine, highly reactive glass particles, as well as a higher-molecular-weight polyalkenoic acid component. Silver diammine fluoride (SDF) is an agent with promising activity against active caries. The present study aimed to evaluate the shear bond strength (SBS) and interfacial morphology of a new HV-GIC bonded to dentin after treatment with various adhesive protocols including SDF.
Methods: HV-GIC cylinders were bonded to dentin after various surface treatments (6 groups, n = 22): water; polyalkenoic acid; SDF; SDF + potassium iodide (KI); SDF + KI + polyalkenoic acid; SDF + KI + two weeks of storage in water + polyalkenoic acid. For each group, 20 samples were tested for SBS after 48 h, and 2 samples were cut and subjected to environmental scanning electron microscopy (E-SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis.
Results: No significant differences in SBS were found between any of the protocols tested. However, E-SEM and EDX images showed different interfaces when SDF was applied.
Conclusion: SDF has no influence on the adhesion of HV-GIC to sound dentin and could potentially improve the cario-resistance of the dentin/HV-GIC interface.
Keywords: energy-dispersive X-ray analysis; high-viscosity glass ionomer cement; shear bond strength; silver diammine fluoride.