Statement of problemInformation is lacking about incompatibilities between certain types of adhesive systems and dual-polymerizing composite resins, and universal adhesives have yet to be tested with these resins. PurposeThe purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate the bonding outcome of dual-polymerizing foundation composite resins by using different categories of adhesive solutions and to determine whether incompatibilities were present. Material and methodsOne hundred and eighty caries-free, extracted third molar teeth were allocated to 9 groups (n=20), in which 3 different bonding agents (Single Bond Plus [SB]), Scotchbond Multi-purpose [MP], and Scotchbond Universal [SU]) were used to bond 3 different composite resins (CompCore AF [CC], Core Paste XP [CP], and Filtek Supreme Ultra [FS]). After restorations had been fabricated using an Ultradent device, the specimens were stored in water at 37°C for 24 hours. The specimens were tested under shear force at a rate of 0.5 mm/min. The data were analyzed with Kruskal-Wallis tests and post hoc pairwise comparisons (α=.05). ResultsAll 3 composite resins produced comparable shear bond strengths when used with MP (P=.076). However, when either SB or SU was used, the light-polymerized composite resin (FS) and 1 dual-polymerized foundation composite resin (CC) bonded significantly better than the other dual-polymerized foundation composite resin (CP) (P<.005). Both FS and CC performed best with SU but had acceptable results with all of the bonding agents. CP only performed acceptably with MP (P=.023) and had poor results with both other agents. ConclusionsDual-polymerizing composite resins can obtain equally good bond strengths as light-polymerizing alternatives. However, not all dual-polymerizing composite resins perform well with all bonding systems; some incompatibilities exist between different products.