It has been shown that irradiation can cause structural changes in dentin that may reduce the bond strength of adhesives to dentin. Applying cross-linking or antioxidant agents may help reverse this detrimental effect and improve adhesion to dentin. This in vitro study aimed to evaluate the effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) pretreatment and the time of adhesive bonding (24 hours vs 1 month) on the shear bond strength (SBS) of All-Bond Universal (ABU) to irradiated dentin using etch-and-rinse (ER) and self-etching (SE) modes. Flat dentin surfaces prepared from 96 extracted intact human molars were divided into 8 groups (n = 12) and bonded with ABU. In the control (CO) groups (CO/ER and CO/SE), bonding was performed on nonirradiated dentin; in the irradiated (IR) groups (IR/ER and IR/SE), bonding was performed on irradiated dentin; in the irradiated pretreated groups (IR/EGCG/ER and IR/EGCG/SE), irradiated dentin received a 0.1% EGCG pretreatment before bonding; and in the irradiated delayed bonding (DL) groups (IR/DL/ER and IR/DL/SE), bonding on irradiated dentin was performed 1 month after completion of radiotherapy. The irradiation protocol consisted of a total dose of 60 Gy with 2-Gy exposure applied 5 days per week for a period of 6 weeks. After bonding procedures were completed, the specimens were stored in 100% humidity at 37°C for 24 hours and then the SBS was tested in a universal testing machine. Data were analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance and Tukey tests. There was a statistically significant difference among the 8 groups (P < 0.001). Irradiation diminished the SBS in the IR/ER and IR/SE groups compared with their controls (P < 0.001). Pretreatment with EGCG significantly increased the SBS in the IR/EGCG/ER group only (P < 0.001). The difference between the IR/ER and IR/DL/ER groups was not statistically significant, and the difference between the IR/SE and IR/DL/SE groups was marginally significant (P = 0.056). Pretreatment with EGCG after acid etching restored the SBS of ABU to irradiated dentin, resulting in an adhesive performance equivalent to that observed with nonirradiated dentin. A 1-month delay between irradiation and bonding did not improve the SBS.
Keywords: antioxidant; cross-linking agent; dentin bonding agent; radiotherapy; shear bond strength.