Purpose: To modify phosphoric acid (PA) with polyphenol-rich plant extracts and verify their effect on immediate (24 h) and long-term (1 year) micro-shear bond strength (µSBS) of an adhesive system to sound and eroded dentin.
Materials and Methods: 420 dentin specimens (360 for µSBS and 60 for characterization) were prepared and divided into two substrate-subgroups: sound (untreated) and eroded dentin (underwent 10 cycles of 1 h exposure to human saliva and 5 min immersion in citric acid). The specimens from each subgroup were randomly distributed into six groups, according to PA (n = 30/group): PA-EXP (experimental control), PA-GSE (PA-EXP + grape seed extract), PA-BLU (PA-EXP + blueberry extract), PA-CRA (PA-EXP + cranberry extract), PA-GRE (PA-EXP + green tea extract), PA-COM (commercial control). After etching with the respective PA (15 s), specimens were restored with adhesive and composite resin. Half of the specimens of each group were subjected to µSBS testing after 24 h and the other half after 1 year of storage (tap water, 37°C). Analyses were made with three-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey tests (α = 0.05).
Results: Higher µSBS was observed to sound dentin than to eroded dentin, regardless of the storage time, except for PA-BLU and PA-GSE after 1 year (p = 0.40 and p = 0.10, respectively). After 24 h, for both substrates, PA-COM presented statistically significantly lower µSBS than the other PAs. After 1 year, µSBS was significantly reduced for all groups except for the PA-COM (sound: p = 0.67; eroded: p = 0.13).
Conclusion: Compared to the commercial PA, the modified PAs improved the immediate µSBS and gave similar long-term µSBS to sound as well to eroded dentin.
Keywords: bond strength, cross-linkers, dental restoration, phosphoric acid, polyphenol, longevity, surface characterization
