Influence of organic acids present in oral biofilm on the durability of the repair bond strength, sorption and solubility of resin composites.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the repair bond strength after storage in water, lactic and propionic acid after 7 days and 6 months and the sorption and solubility of resin composites used. METHODS: Five cylinders of each resin composite (microhybrid, nanofilled and silorane-based composite) were prepared. Specimens were aged with thermocycling (5 and 55 degrees C) 5,000 times. A repair procedure was performed using intraoral sandblasting with 50-microm aluminum oxide, application of an adhesive system and cylinder of composite was fabricated. Specimens were sectioned into beams and stored in three immersion media: water, propionic acid and lactic acid. The microtensile bond strength was measured after periods of 7 days and 6 months. Sorption and solubility were evaluated using 15 specimens (0 = 6 mm; h = 1 mm) of each resin composite, which were prepared and assigned into three groups (n = 5) according to the immersion media (water, propionic acid and lactic acid). Data were analyzed using one-way/two-way/three-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: The resin composites, immersion media and time of immersion did not affect the repair bond strength (microhybrid 38.3 to 40.9 MPa; nanofilled 38.7 to 42.2 MPa; silorane 41.2 to 51.1 MPa). Additionally, the immersion media did not affect the sorption and solubility. The silorane-based composite presented the lowest sorption (10.5 to 12.1 microg/mm3) and solubility (-2.4 to -2.7 microg/mm3), while the nanofilled methacrylate-based composite showed the highest sorption (32.1 to 33.6 microg/mm3). Regarding solubility, the nanofilled and microhybrid methacrylate-based composites did not present statistically significant differences.