Effect of wettability of adhesive resins on bonding to dentin.

The purpose of this study was to investigate on human dentin the relationships between, on the one hand, the wettability of five adhesive compounds, characterized by different solubility parameters delta, and on the other, the thickness of the resin impregnated dentin layer (RIL) and the shear bond strength (SBS). Cut dentin surfaces were treated with conditioners of pH 1.25, 3.6 or 7.4. Shear bond strength was measured on 20 specimens each. RIL was determined by scanning electron microscope on specimens fractured perpendicularly to the bonding interface. When resins with delta 32, 30 or 39 (MJ1/2/m3/2) were used RILs were consistently 4 microns and 1 micron on dentin pretreated with the two acidic conditioners. No clearly measurable RIL was shown after application of the conditioner with pH 7.4, and when resins with delta-values of 20 and 25 were applied. For the same adhesive no difference in SBS was found, when applied on the differently conditioned dentin sites. Resins with delta > 30 produced significantly higher SBS than the two adhesives with smaller delta.