Effect of air/water rinse versus water only and of five rinse times on resin-to-etched-enamel shear bond strength.

This study compared the shear bond strength of composite resin bonded to etched, flattened enamel that had been rinsed for 0, 1, 2, 3, 5 or 20 seconds with either a water stream or an air/water spray. One hundred seventy-six molars were separated into mandibular and maxillary groups, then divided equally into 11 groups of 16 teeth each. The facial enamel surfaces were ground flat and etched for 20 seconds with 37% phosphoric acid gel. In one group, the etching gel was dried but not rinsed. In five groups the gel was rinsed with a direct stream of water at 22 psi. In the remaining five groups the gel was rinsed with an air/water spray (air at 53 psi, water at 22 psi). One tooth from each group was removed for scanning electron microscopy evaluation, leaving 15 specimens in each group for shear bond testing. Teflon tape with a 3 mm in diameter window was placed over each etched area, a light-curing liquid resin was applied and polymerized for 10 seconds, and a cylinder of light-curing composite resin was polymerized over the window. Specimens were thermocycled from 5 to 50 degrees C for 500 cycles (30-second dwell time). After 30 days' hydration at room temperature, the teeth were mounted and the composite resin cylinders were loaded in shear to failure with an Instron machine at a cross-head speed of 5 mm/min. Mean load to failure was calculated for each group. Specimens that were not rinsed had significantly (P < 0.001) less bond strength (mean 0.53 MPa) than any of the rinsed specimens (mean 18.7 MPa).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)