Self-etching Bonding: Microleakage evaluation for enamel and dentine

Objectives: of this in vitro study was to compare dentine and enamel microleakage values of six self-etching bonding agents with that of a fourth generation dentine bonding agent used as control. Products evaluated were Scotchbond Multipurpose (3M/ESPE), Xeno III ( Dentsply), SE Bond (Kuraray), ABF (Kuraray) and Optibond Solo Self-etch (Kerr),OneCoatSE(Colténe Whaledent),and iBond(Heraeus-Kultzer).Methods: Using a medium size Cerana bur (Nordiska Dental) a standard, cylindrical preparation was made at the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) of human third molars. The teeth were randomly divided into 7 groups of ten teeth each, the bonding agents applied and light cured strictly according to the manufacturers instructions and filled in two increments, using Z100, A1 composite (3M ESPE). The restored teeth were then imbedded in acrylic resin and thermocycled between 5 – 60° C (± 2° C) for 250 cycles with a dwell time of 20 seconds. The the teeth were then placed in a 5% basic Fuchcin solution for 12 hours at 37° C. The teeth were then removed from the Fuchcin, rinsed well, imbedded further in acrylic and cut longitudinally through the centre of each restoration using a Accutom-2 (Struers) cutting machine. Each tooth was then evaluated at the Incisal Enamel margin and Apical Dentine margin for micro-leakage using a light microscope at 50x magnification. The data obtained was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test with Fisher’s least significant difference method for comparison of specific groups (p<0.05). Results: When compared to the control, microleakage at the incisal enamel margins and apical dentine margins were only statistically comparable for SE Bond and ABF (Protect Bond). Conclusion: As far as microleakage is concerned, SE Bond and ABF (Protect Bond) self-etching bonding agents should be a clinically acceptable alternative to the clinically proven Scotchbond Multipurpose.