Methods: Twenty one recently extracted, caries free human teeth were embedded in acrylic and polished with 400 grit SiC paper until superficial dentin was exposed. They were divided into three groups (n=7): group 1 received the dentin bonding components as recommended by the manufacturer before light curing, group two had the components rubbed against the dentin surface before light curing and group three had one layer rubbed over the surface, light cured for 20 seconds and then a second layer was applied following manufacturers´ instructions. Composite was light cure over the dentin bonding agent in two increments, each one was light cured for 40 seconds. Specimens were tested for tensile bond strength, data were recollected in MPa.
Results: Data were compared using a one- way analysis of variance at 0.05 significance level. Mean bond strength for all three groups are: Suggested technique: 8.0 MPa Rubbed components: 16.4 MPa Components rubbed plus as suggested: 27.8MPa Tukey-Kramer interval for comparison of means was 11.1 for comparison among groups. Group with two applications of the adhesive, one rubbed and then one as suggested by the manufacturer, had the highest bond strength. Group that had dentin bonding agent applied following manufacturers´ instructions, had the lowest.
Conclusions: The application technique used with One-Up Bond affects the tensile bond strength to superficial dentin.