Curing modes affects micro-tensile bond strength and durability of dual curing resin cements to dentin.

Background: To evaluate the effects of curing modes on the micro-tensile bond strength and durability of 6 different dual curing resin cements to dentin.

Methods: 84 human molars were divided into 7 groups (n = 12), and were further distributed into two subgroups according to the two curing modes: light-curing (L) and self-curing (D) (n = 6). The 6 dual-cured resin cements were: DU (Duolink, Bisco), TC (TheraCem, Bisco), MS (Multilink Speed, Ivoclar), N3 (Nexus 3 Universal, Kerr), R2 (RelyX U200, 3M) and RU (RelyX Ultimate, 3M). The universal adhesives were: All Bond Universal (Bisco); Adhesive Universal Vivapen (Ivoclar); Optibond Versa Adhesive (Kerr); Scotch Bond Universal Adhesive (3M). RU was placed directly on processed adhesive layer without light-curing, set as group 7. Micro-tensile bond strength test was carried out after 37°C water storage for 24 h, 3 months and 6 months, respectively. Three-way ANOVA and Games-Howell test were performed by SPSS 19.0 (α = 0.05).

Results: The Three-way ANOVA indicated that bonding performance was significantly affected by curing mode (p = 0.000, F = 1,237.510), resin cement (p = 0.000, F = 59.507) and storage time (p = 0.000, F = 97.888). The interaction of these three factors was significant (p = 0.017, F = 2.071).

Conclusion: The bonding strength and durability of dual curing resin cements were significantly improved by light-curing process. In addition, the bonding strength of resin cements with different experimental condition was material depended. Among all tested resin cements, N3 exhibits the most favorable outcomes.

Clinical Relevance: A dual curing procedure is recommended in clinical application. Among all tested resin cements, N3 exhibits the most favorable outcomes.