Dimensional changes in acid-demineralized dentin matrices following the use of HEMA-water versus HEMA-alcohol primers

Although dried acid‐etched dentin can be reexpanded by hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA)/water primers, the primed dentin collapses when the water is evaporated. Experimental HEMA/alcohol primers should stiffen the matrix and permit less shrinkage when the solvent is evaporated. The purpose of this study was to test the hypotheses that matrix shrinkage induced by solvent evaporation from HEMA primers is inversely related to solvent‐induced matrix stiffness. Dentine discs were prepared from midcoronal dentine of unerupted human third molars. After demineralization in 37% phosphoric acid, the specimens were placed in the well of a linear variable differential transformer instrument, which measures changes in the matrix height and stiffness by load displacement after the application of weights. This was done in their hydrated state after water had been applied, after drying with dry nitrogen gas, and after the application of 35 vol % HEMA–water, HEMA–methanol, HEMA–ethanol, or HEMA–propanol primers. The degree of reexpansion after the application of the primers to the dentine in the dried state was found to be highest using the HEMA–water primer, followed by HEMA–methanol and HEMA–ethanol, with the HEMA–propanol primer producing no expansion. However, when the solvents were evaporated the HEMA–water‐treated specimens shrank the most, the HEMA–ethanol‐treated specimens shrank an intermediate amount, and the HEMA–methanol‐treated specimens shrank the least. The net result of expansion minus shrinkage produced by evaporation determines how much HEMA remains in the hybrid layer just prior to polymerization. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 67A: 900–907, 2003