Influence of Drying Temperature and Application Time of Self-etch Adhesive Systems on Marginal Microleakage

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate “in vitro” the efficiency of self-etch adhesive systems on the marginal microleakage, varying the adhesive application time and the air drying mode. Method: Class II cavities were prepared in 80 sound human molars, divided into four groups: G1, Adper SE Plus (ASEP); G2, All Bond SE (ABSE); G3, Go! (GO); G4, Clearfil SE Bond (CSEB). The adhesive systems were used varying the application time (recommended by manufacturer or doubled) and the drying mode (cold air and hot air). The restored teeth were stored in distilled water for 24 h, subjected to a thermocycling regimen, rendered waterproof, immersed in 2% methylene blue, sectioned and examined as to the level of microleakage qualitatively with a 40x stereoscopic loupe by three calibrated examiners. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests with paired comparisons). Results: There were different levels of microleakage among the adhesive systems regarding the drying mode and adhesive application time. The least leakage was obtained for ASEP with cold air drying and doubled adhesive application time (mean 11.05) and the greatest was obtained for ABSE with cold air drying and manufacturer’s adhesive application time (mean 30.50). Difference among the adhesive systems was not statistically significant (p greater than 0.05) only for the combinations of hot air drying and manufacturer’s recommended application time. Regarding the drying mode and the application time, independently, ASEP showed less leakage when drying was done with hot air (mean 24.73) and the adhesive application time was doubled (mean 22.55). Conclusion: Drying with hot air and doubling the adhesive application time were found to be effective in increasing the quality of the marginal seal in water-based adhesive systems.