This study investigated the hypothesis that increasing light-curing time would leave the oxygen-inhibited layer (OIL) of the adhesive thinner, and in turn, result in lower shear bond strength (SBS) than those obtained by the routine curing procedures.

120 human extracted posterior teeth were randomly divided into three groups for bonding with three adhesives: All Bond 2®, One Step®, and Adper Prompt®. They were subsequently divided into four subgourps with different light-curing time (10, 20, 30 and 60 s). The assigned adhesives were applied on superficial occlusal dentin according to the manufacturer’s instructions and cured with one of the four curing times. Composite resin cylinder, 2.35 mm in diameter, were built on the cured adhesive and light-cured for 40 s. SBS were measured after 24 h from the bonding using a universal testing machine (crosshead speed 1.0 mm/min). The relative thickness of the OIL and the degree of conversion (DC) were determined from the adhesive on a slide glass using FT-NIR in an absorbance mode. Data were analysed with One-way ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple test (p < 0.05).

With increasing cure time, although there were no significant difference in th SBS of One-step and Adper Prompt (p > 0.05), those of All Bond 2 decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The relative thicknesses of the OIL on each adhesive were not affected by the cure time (p > 0.05). Although the DC of All-Bond 2 were statistically not different with increasing cure time (p > 0.05), those of One-Step and Adper Prompt showed an increasing trends with increasing cure time (p < 0.05).

Increasing light-curing time did not affect on the relative thickness of the OIL of the adhesives, and in turn, on the SBS to dentin.