Effect of cavity preparation method on microtensile bond strength of a self-etching primer vs phosphoric acid etchant to enamel.

This study evaluated the effect of cavity preparation using air abrasion or carbide bur on bond strength to enamel treated with a self-etching primer (Tyrian SPE) or a phosphoric acid etchant. Twenty-four molars were divided into three groups: high-speed; standard handpiece (ST air abrasion) or supersonic handpiece (SP air abrasion) of the same air-abrasive system. The enamel surfaces were treated with one of the two etchants and the same adhesive agent One Step Plus, and then composite buildups were done with Filtek Z250. After 24 h at 37 degrees C, beams (0.8 mm2) were obtained and subjected to tensile stress in a universal testing machine (0.5 mm/min). The data were submitted to analysis of variance and Tukey's test (P < 0.05). For the conditioning agents, it was observed that the specimens conditioned with phosphoric acid presented superior results than the specimens that used Tyrian SPE. For the preparation techniques, it was verified that the SP air abrasion groups showed the highest bond strengths and carbide-bur groups presented the lowest bond strengths when the specimens were conditioned with Tyrian SPE. It can be concluded that the influence of the cavity preparation method was dependent on the conditioning system used, only when using carbide-bur preparation technique.