Purpose: To evaluate the influence of dyes for caries detection on tensile bond strength of adhesive materials to artificial carious dentin.
Materials and methods: Buccal and lingual enamel of human molars were removed leaving intact dentin surfaces. The entire surface of each specimen was covered with nail varnish, keeping a window area of 4 x 4 mm. Artificial carious lesions were induced with acidified gel. Three dyes (0.5% basic fuchsin; Caries Finder and Cari-D-Tect) were used according to manufacturers' recommendations. Specimens were etched with 35% phosphoric acid for 20 s, washed and dried, leaving a wet dentin surface. The adhesive system (Prime & Bond 2.0) was applied in two layers and light-cured. Restorative materials (TPH Spectrum, Dyract, Advance) were bonded using a 3-mm diameter inverted-cone mold. Control groups were made without dye. Eight samples were tested for each group. After 24 hrs of storage in distilled water, the samples were debonded using a testing machine at 0.5 mm/min crosshead speed.
Results: ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer test showed that TPH Spectrum (0.73 MPa) and Dyract (0.74 MPa) had similar bond strengths, and both were higher than Advance (0.0 MPa), which was statistically different (P < 0.01). The use of the dyes did not cause any changes in tensile bond strength for any tested materials.