Conditioning effect on dentin, resin tags and hybrid layer of different acidity self-etch adhesives applied to thick and thin smear layer.

OBJECTIVES: to assess the conditioning effect (CE) of self-etch adhesives of different acidity applied to thick and thin smear layer (SL), the corresponding resin tags (RT) and hybrid layer (HL).
METHODS: Twenty-seven molars had their occlusal dentin exposed and were sectioned into two halves. Each of them was ground with a 60 or 600-grit SiC paper, respectively for thick and thin SL production. Three self-etch adhesives: a mild (Clearfil SE Bond), an intermediary (Optibond Solo SE and Solo Plus) and a strong (Tyrian Self Priming Etchant+One Step Plus) and an etch-&-rinse system (Scotchbond Multi Purpose Plus) were used. For CE evaluation, the self-etch primers were applied and rinsed off with acetone and alcohol prior to SEM preparation. For RT and HL specimens self-etch adhesives were applied and restored with Z-250. For RT specimens, dentin was removed with HCl (6N) and NaClO (1%) baths. The HL specimens were fixed, dehydrated, dried with HMDS, embedded, polished and slightly demineralized (6N HCl) and deproteinized (1% NaClO). After gold sputtering they were observed by SEM.
RESULTS: The thick smear layer was clearly not totally removed by the mild self-etch primer. RT varied in density and shape among the self-etch adhesives. Thicker HL was observed for the strong self-etch and etch-&-rinse adhesives.
CONCLUSIONS: The etch-&-rinse adhesive presented the thickest HL and was the only adhesive to produce RT in high density and uniform distribution along the whole dentin surface, independently of the SL thickness.