A comparison of the resin tag penetration of the total etch and the self-etch dentin bonding systems in the primary teeth: An in vitro study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Restoration of carious lesions with a strong permanent bond would be a highly desirable requisite. Ultra morphological characterization shows that observing and understanding the interfacial phenomenon and its quality would be of great importance in the selection of a dental adhesive for its use in pediatric restorative dentistry. STUDY DESIGN: Human primary molars, indicated for extraction, for reasons like caries, normal exfoliation, pathological root resorption, over-retained and serial extraction, were collected. Teeth were then equally distributed into 2 subgroups each namely B1 - Prime and Bond NT & B2 - Xeno III. RESULTS: The resin tags seen in the samples of group B2 were both qualitatively and quantitatively advanced as compared to group B1. This reveals that the quality of the penetration of the resin was better in group B2. CONCLUSION: Reduction in the technique sensitivity of any bonding system would always be a preferred factor in pediatric restorative dentistry. Thus the inclination towards the selection of adhesive system may lean towards the self-etching bonding system at this juncture.