Interfacial fracture toughness of self-adhesive and conventional flowable composites to dentin using different dentin pretreatments.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of different dentin pretreatments on the interfacial fracture toughness of a self-adhesive flowable composite to dentin compared with that of a conventional flowable composite. METHODS: Caries-free human molars were sectioned to expose the underlying dentin and were randomly divided into seven groups (N = 12) of dentin pretreatments bonded to a self-adhesive flowable composite (Vetise Flow, VF) or a conventional flowable composite (Clearfil Magesty Flow, CM). For VF; Control group (group C-VF), there was no pretreatment, self-etching primer (SP), oxalate dentin desensitizer (OX), and chlorhexidine gluconate (CH) were used. For CM; SP (group SP-CM), OX followed by SP (OX-CM), and CH followed by SP (CH-CM) were used. The interfacial fracture toughness was measured using a universal testing machine. Data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test and analysis of variance. RESULTS: For VF, the fracture toughness of SP-VF was significantly higher than that of other groups. For CM, a significantly higher fracture toughness for SP-CM than that of OX-CM was found. For all dentin pretreatments, the fracture toughness values were significantly higher for CM compared with the VF. CONCLUSIONS: The self-adhesive flowable composite had reduced bonding efficacy to dentin compared with that of the conventional flowable composite, regardless of the type of dentin pretreatment.