Comparative evaluation of different surface treatments of the salivary contaminated dentin on the shear bond strength of self-etch adhesives: An in vitro study

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate and compare the effect of different surface treatments of the salivary contaminated dentin on the shear bond strength of one-step self-etch adhesives. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The coronal buccal surfaces of 50 human mandibular molars were ground to expose dentin. The specimens were randomly divided into five groups. Ten teeth were left uncontaminated and served as control group. Rest of the teeth were then divided based on the decontamination method used as follows: Group II (no decontamination done), Group III (decontamination with rinsing), and Group IV (decontamination with etching), Group V (decontamination with ethanol). Composite resin cylinders of 4 mm diameter and 4 mm length were fabricated on the surfaces. Shear bond strength testing was done in a universal testing machine, and the data were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance and KruskalWallis test. Intergroup comparison was made using MannWhitney U-test. RESULTS: The highest bond strength was seen in Group 1, followed by and least in Group II. The difference was found to be statistically significant among all the groups. Group II and Group IV showed lower shear bond strength than Group I (control) and Group III (P < 0.05). The intergroup comparison shows significant differences between Group I with all the other groups. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the use of decontaminant improved the bond strength to salivary contaminated dentin in self-etch adhesives.