Susceptibility of contemporary single-bottle self-etch dentine adhesives to intrinsic water permeation

To evaluate the effect of intrinsic water permeation on the microtensile bond strengths of different adhesive systems to dentine and the quality of resin-dentine interfaces. Ninety-six non-carious human third molars were divided into 4 groups: Clearfil S3 Bond Plus (CSBP; Kuraray); Clearfil S3 Bond (C3S; Kuraray); iBond Self-Etch (IB; Heraeus-Kulzer) and Prime&Bond NT (PB, control etch-and-rinse adhesive, Dentply-Sirona). For each adhesive, specimens from one subgroup (N=10) were bonded using zero pulpal pressure, while specimens from the other subgroup (N=10) were bonded using 15cm water pressure (PP). Each bonded tooth was sectioned into 1×1mm sticks and stressed to failure. Data were analysed using two-way ANOVA and Holm-Sidak pairwise comparisons to examine the effects of “adhesive”, “pulpal pressure” and their interaction on bond strength (α=0.05). Representative fractured sticks were examined by SEM. The remaining tooth slabs in each subgroup were used for TEM and CLSM. Microtensile bond strengths (mean±SD; in MPa) were: 33.4±6.9 (CSBP), 33.2±4.7 (CSBP-PP), 35.0±8.6 (C3S), 25.5±7.3 (C3S-PP), 18.4±4.0 (IB), 16.5±6.9 (IB-PP), 28.2±5.5 (PB), 20.5±7.2 (PB-PP). “Adhesive-type” (P