In Vivo Long-term Durability of the Bond to Dentin Using Two Adhesive Systems

The objective of this work was to evaluate the in vivo long-term durability of bond strength and morphological appearance of interfaces between dentin and two adhesive systems. Class V cavities were prepared on the facial surfaces of 6 intact teeth of a monkey, and restored with Unifil Bond/Unifil F and Fuji Bond LC/Clearfil AP-X. One year later, 10 other teeth were restored with the same materials and the monkey was sacrificed after 24 hours. For in vitro examination, 6 more teeth were extracted from the monkey, restored in a similar manner with the two materials, and stored in 37°C water for 1 day. All specimens were subjected to the microtensile bond strength (µTBS) test. The debonded surfaces of specimens were morphologically observed with the FE-SEM. There were no statistically significant differences among the mean µTBS obtained for Unifil Bond/Unifil F under the three conditions (1 day and 1 year in vivo, and 1 day in vitro), and most specimens showed cohesive failure within resin composite (Unifil F). However, FE-SEM observations showed that resinous material within the hybrid layer made by Unifil Bond seemed to increase in porosity after 1 year. For Fuji Bond LC/Clearfil AP-X, µTBS at 1 day in vitro was significantly higher than that at 1 year in vivo, and bond strengths in vivo tended to decrease over time, although a statistically significant difference was not observed. From FE-SEM observations, most specimens showed cohesive failure within the adhesive (Fuji Bond LC). Bond strengths of the two adhesive systems tended to decrease for 1 year in vivo.