Effect of Chlorhexidine on the 18-month Clinical Performance of Two Adhesives

Purpose: This study tested the hypothesis that 2% chlorhexidine (CHX) does not affect the 18-month clinical performance of two dentin adhesives, XP Bond (XPB) and XENO V (XEN). Materials and Methods: A total of 120 noncarious cervical lesions (NCCL) were selected and assigned to 4 groups: (1) XPB; (2) CHX prior to the application of XPB; (3) XEN; (4) CHX prior to the application of XEN. A hybrid composite resin, Esthet•X, was used for all restorations. Restorations were evaluated blindly at 6 and 18 months by two evaluators using the University of North Carolina (UNC)-modified USPHS criteria. Statistical analyses included the Mann Whitney and McNemar nonparametric tests (p 0.05). Results: At 6 months, 91 (75.2%) restorations were evaluated, while 92 (76.7%) restorations were evaluated at 18 months. The 6-month/18-month overall retention rates (%) were 100/100 for XPB, 96.0/95.0 for CHX+XPB, 100/91.3 for XEN, and 100/95.8 for CHX+XEN with no statistical difference between any pair of groups at each recall. Sensitivity to air improved significantly for groups XPB, XEN, and CHX+XEN from pre-operative conditions to 1 week after insertion, to 6 and to 18 months after inserting. For group CHX+XPB, there was a statistically significant difference only between pre-operative conditions and 1 week after insertion. Marginal adaptation deteriorated for all groups, but no statistically significant differences were found. All other criteria remained statistically similar. Conclusion: The application of CHX prior to the dentin adhesive did not influence the 6-month/18-month clinical performance of the two adhesives. Keywords: chlorhexidine, self-etching adhesives, etch-and-rinse adhesive, clinical trial, noncarious cervical lesions