Surface Treatments that Demonstrate a Significant Positive Effect on the Shear Bond Strength of Repaired Resin-modified Glass Ionomer

This study examined surface treatment options used to repair resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGI; GC Fuji II LC, GC America). Two hundred forty specimens were equally divided into four different water/temperature cycling environmental conditions. The conditions were 1) five-minute delay, 2) one-week delay with one thermocycle, 3) 500 thermocycles, and 4) 24-hour delay in a dry environment, followed by 500 thermocycles. Within each of the condition groups, the specimens were equally divided again into three different surface treatment groups with 20 specimens in each. The treatment groups comprised A) sanding, B) sanding and acid etch, and C) sanding, acid etch, and dental bonding agent. Our results suggest that RMGI is extremely susceptible to the simultaneous exposure of temperature cycling and water during the first 24 hours. Our main results reflect that 1) during the first five minutes after the initial placement, the surface treatments made no difference in terms of the shear bond strength (NS); and 2) when we weakened the RMGI by exposing it to water and temperature cycling immediately after initial placement, each of the treatments (A