Effect of saliva contamiination on the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets bonded with a self-etching primer.

This study evaluates the effect of saliva contamination at different stages of the bonding brackets procedure using the self-etching primer Adper Prompt L-Pop (3M ESPE, Minneapolis, Minn) and the resin orthodontic adhesive system Transbond XT (3M). A total of 70 brackets were bonded to human extracted premolars, which were divided into four groups: group 1, uncontaminated (control); group 2, saliva application before priming; group 3, saliva application after priming; and group 4, saliva application before and after priming. Shear bond strength was measured with a universal test machine. The adhesive remnant on the tooth after debonding was determined using image analysis equipment. Significant differences were only observed between group 1 (12.42 +/- 3.27) and groups 2 (9.93 +/- 4.50) and 4 (9.59 +/- 2.92) (P < .05). Concerning the adhesive remnant, no significant differences were found between the groups evaluated (P > .05).