The microhardness of bleached dentine and its bond strength to a dentine bonding agent.

The aim of this study was to measure the hardness of a bleached dentine surface and its bond strength to a dentine-bonding agent. Thirty teeth were randomly divided into a test and control group. The teeth were hemi-sectioned, the cut surfaces ground flat and the test surfaces bleached with a 10% aqueous solution of carbamide peroxide continuously for 4 days. Hardness was determined using a Vickers microhardness test. The bond between Coltene 'One Coat Bond' and bleached and unbleached dentine was evaluated by measuring shear bond strength using an Instron machine. The mean hardness of dentine before and after bleaching was 62.5 (10.2) and 53.6 (7.3) and this difference was statistically different (p<0.001). For the controls immersed in water the hardness was before 60.8 (standard deviation: 7.2) and after 59.6 (8.2) respectively. The mean shear bond strength for the unbleached was 5.5MPa (1.6) and for the bleached samples was 3.3MPa (1.8) and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.002). Under these study conditions the Vickers hardness and bond strength to dentine was reduced by bleaching.