Evaluation of Microshear Bond Strength of Self-Adhesive Versus Conventional Flowable Resin Composite to Sound and Affected Dentin: An In Vitro Study

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the microshear bond strength (µSBS) of self-adhesive flowable composite and conventional bonded flowable composite to sound and caries affected dentin. Materials and Methods: In this in vitro study, a total of freshly extracted 40 human molar teeth were used. The occlusal surface was sectioned to expose dentin for µSBS test. The teeth were randomly divided into 2 groups according to the type of flowable composite used into two groups (n=20): group A: self- adhesive flowable composite (Vertise flow), group B: Filtek Z350-XT flowable composite and one-step self-etch adhesive Adper Easy One. A plastic cylindrical mold was used to construct resin composite cylinders (0.8mm diameter x 1mm length) on the sound and caries affected exposed dentin and filled with flowable composite restorative materials according to manufacturer’s instructions. The samples were then immersed in distilled water at 37°C for 24 hours, and underwent µSBS test at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. Data were analyzed using Student's t-test to compare between the two materials as well as to compare between sound and caries affected dentin. Results: The mean values of µSBS of Filtek Z-350XT to sound and caries affected were 26.6 and 26.7 MPa respectively. The mean µSBS of Vertise Flow to sound and affected were 13.2 and 17.9 MPa respectively. With sound dentin FiltekZ-350XT showed statistically significant higher µSBS than Vertise flow. With caries affected dentin, there was no statistically significant difference between the two materials. There was no statistically significant difference between µSBS of sound and caries affected dentin within each material. The significance level was set at P ≤ 0.05. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, the conventional flowable composite yielded the highest µSBS to sound dentin. There was no statistical significant difference in µSBS of self-adhesive and conventional flowable to caries affected dentin. Key words: Composite Resins; Dentin; microshear.