Adhesive interfacial characteristics and the related bonding performance of four self-etching adhesives with different functional monomers applied to dentin.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the interfacial chemical and morphological characteristics of four self-etching adhesives bonded to dentin with different functional monomers. Further, to evaluate the effects of this interaction between functional monomers and dentin on short-term in vitro bonding performance of the four adhesives. METHODS: Clearfil SE Bond (CSE) and Scotchbond Universal (SU) containing 10-methacryloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (10-MDP), Optibond XTR (OX) containing glycero-phosphate dimethacrylate (GPDM), and Adper Easy One (AEO) containing 6-methacryloyloxyhexyl dihydrogen phosphate (6-MHP) were applied to the dentin surface according to the instructions supplied with each. Interaction between the functional monomers and dentin was characterized using thin-film X-ray diffraction (TF-XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hydrophilicity of each acidic monomer was also assessed by chemical structure drawing software. Micro-tensile bond strength (muTBS) and nanoleakage were used to evaluate the bonding effectiveness of the adhesives, either immediately or after thermo-cycling (5 degrees C-55 degrees C) for 5000 cycles. RESULTS: TF-XRD showed that both CSE and SU exhibited 10-MDP-Ca nano-layering at the adhesive interface, but with different intensity when reacted with dentin. OX, that contains GPDM, demineralized the dentin surface more severely, forming long resin tags into the dentinal tubules, and gained the highest muTBS at the immediate time-point. Thermo-cycling adversely affected the muTBS and nanoleakage of AEO and OX, but had no significant influence on CSE and SU which contain 10-MDP. CONCLUSIONS: Self-etching adhesives containing different structures/concentrations of functional monomers produced adhesive interfaces with obviously different chemical and morphological characteristics, which may have a direct impact on bonding effectiveness. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings support the concept that the stable chemical bonding produced by 10-MDP to the Ca of hydroxyapatite is advantageous for durability of adhesive-dentin bonds. In contrast a higher immediate bond strength was achieved with the functional monomer GPDM that etched and wetted the dentin surface better.