Proteoglycan is highly hydrophilic and negatively charged which enable them attract the water. The objective of study was to investigate the effects of Proteoglycan on microtensile bond strength of dentin adhesives and on architecture of dentin collagen matrix of acid etched dentin by removing the chondroitin sulphate attached on Proteoglycan. A flat dentin surface in mid-coronal portion of tooth was prepared. After acid etching, half of the specimens were immersed in 0.1 U/mL chondroitinase ABC (C-ABC) for 48 h at 37℃, while the other half were stored in distilled water. Specimens were bonded with the dentin adhesive using three different bonding techniques (wet, dry and re-wet) followed by microtensile bond strength test. SEM examination was done with debonded specimen, resin-dentin interface and acid-etched dentin surface with/without C-ABC treatment.

For the subgroups using wet-bonding or dry-bonding technique, microtensile bond strength showed no significant difference after C-ABC treatment (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, the subgroup using rewetting technique after air dry in the Single Bond 2 group demonstrated a significant decrease of microtensile bond strength after C-ABC treatment. Collagen architecture is loosely packed and some fibrils are aggregated together and relatively collapsed compared with normal acid-etched wet dentin after C-ABC treatment. Further studies are necessary for the contribution to the collagen architecture of noncollagenous protein under the various clinical situations and several dentin conditioners and are also needed about long-term effect on bond strength of dentin adhesive.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of chlorhexidine (CHX) on microtensile bond strength (µTBS) of dentin bonding systems.

Dentin collagenolytic and gelatinolytic activities can be suppressed by protease inhibitors, indicating that MMPs (Matrix metalloproteinases) inhibition could be beneficial in the preservation of hybrid layers. Chlorhexidine (CHX) is known as an inhibitor of MMPs activity in vitro.

The experiment was proceeded as follows:

At first, flat occlusal surfaces were prepared on mid-coronal dentin of extracted third molars. GI (Glass Ionomer) group was treated with dentin conditioner, and then, applied with 2% CHX. Both SM (Scotchbond Multipurpose) and SB (Single Bond) group were applied with CHX after acid-etched with 37% phosphoric acid. TS (Clearfil Tri-S) group was applied with CHX, and then, with adhesives. Hybrid composite Z-250 and resin-modified glass ionomer Fuji-II LC was built up on experimental dentin surfaces. Half of them were subjected to 10,000 thermocycle, while the others were tested immediately. With the resulting data, statistically two-way ANOVA was performed to assess the µTBS before and after thermocycling and the effect of CHX. All statistical tests were carried out at the 95% level of confidence. The failure mode of the testing samples was observed under a scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Within limited results, the results of this study were as follows;

In all experimental groups applied with 2% chlorhexidine, the microtensile bond strength increased, and thermocycling decreased the microtensile bond strength (P > 0.05).

2% chlorhexidine application after acid-etching proved to preserve the durability of the hybrid layer and microtensile bond strength of dentin bonding systems.

The objectives of this study was to evaluate the durability of 4 resin cements by means of microtensile bond strength test combined with thermocycling method and fractographic FE-SEM analysis.

Experimental groups were prepared according to thermocycling (0, 1,000, 5,000) and the kind of resin cements, those were Variolink II, Multilink, Panavia F 2.0, Rely X Unicem. Flat dentin surfaces were created on mid-coronal dentin of extracted third molars. Then fresh dentin surface was grounded with 320-grit silicon carbide abrasive papers to create uniform smear layers. Indirect composite block (Tescera, Bisco Inc., Schaumburg, IL, USA) was fabricated (12 × 12 × 6 mm³). It's surface for bonding to tooth was grounded with silicon carbide abrasive papers from 180- to 600-grit serially, then sandblasted with 20 - 50 µm alumina oxide. According to each manufacturer's instruction, dentin surface was treated and indirect composite block was luted on it using each resin cement. For Rely X Unicem, dentin surface was not treated. The bonded tooth-resin block were stored in distilled water at 37℃ for 24 hours. After thermocycling, the bonded tooth-resin block was sectioned occluso-gingivally to 1.0 mm thick serial slabs using an Isomet slow-speed saw (Isomet, Buehler Ltd, Lake Bluff, IL, USA). These sectioned slabs were further sectioned to 1.0 × 1.0 mm² composite-dentin beams. The specimens were tested with universal testing machine (EZ-Test, Shimadzu, Japan) at a crosshead speed of 1.0 mm/min with maximum load of 500 N. The data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Duncan's multiple comparison test at p ≤ 0.05 level.

Within the limited results, we conclude as follows;

1. The bond strength of Variolink II was evaluated the highest among experimental groups and was significantly decreased after 1,000 thermocycling (p < 0.05).

2. The bond strength of Multilink was more affected by thermocycling than the other experimental groups and significantly decreased after 1,000 thermocycling (p < 0.05).

3. Panavia F 2.0 and Rely X Unicem showed the gradually decreased tendency of microtensile bond strength according to thermocycling but there was no significant difference (p > 0.05).

4. Adhesive based-resin cements showed lower bond strength with or without thermocycling than composite based-resin cements.

5. Variolink II & Multilink showed high bond strength and mixed failure, which was occurred with a thin layer of luting resin cement before thermocycling and gradually increased adhesive failure along the dentin surface after thermocycling.

The bonding performance of resin cement can be affected by application procedure and chemical composition. Composite based-resin cement showed higher bond strength and durability than adhesive based-resin cement.

The objectives of this study was to evaluate the effect of thermocycling on the μTBS (microtensile bond strength) to dentin with four different adhesive systems to examine the bonding durability.

Freshly extracted 3^rd molar teeth were exposed occlusal dentin surfaces, and randomly distributed into 8 adhesive groups: 3-steps total-etching (Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus; SM, All Bond-2; AB), 2-steps total-etching (Single Bond; SB, One Step plus; OS), 2-steps self-etching (Clearfil SE Bond; SE, AdheSE; AD) and single-step self-etching systems (Promp L-Pop; PL, Xeno III; XE). Each adhesive system in 8 adhesives groups was applied on prepared dentin surface as an instruction and resin composite (Z250) was placed incrementally and light-cured. The bonded specimens were sectioned with low-speed diamond saw to obtain 1 × 1 ㎜ sticks after 24 hours of storage at 37 °C distilled water and proceeded thermocycling at the pre-determined cycles of 0, 1,000 and 2,000. The μTBS test was carried out with EZ-tester at 1 mm/min. The results of bond strength test were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA/ Duncan's test at the α〈 0.05 confidence level. Also, the fracture mode of debonded surface and the interface were examined under SEM.

The results of this study were as follows;

3-step total etching adhesives showed stable, but bond strength of 2-step adhesives were decreased as thermocycling stress.

Within limited results of this study, the bond strength of adhesive system was material specific and the bonding durability was affected by the bonding step/ procedure of adhesive. Simplified bonding procedures do not necessarily imply improved bonding performance.