Effect of timing of repair on repair bond strength of methacrylate- and silorane-based composite resins.

Successful repair of defective composite resin restorations is considered a conservative treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the repair bond strengths of a methacrylate composite (MC) and a silorane composite (SC) repaired after 5 different intervals. Seventy-two test specimens of each material (MC and SC) were prepared. The specimens of each material were divided into 6 groups (n = 12): 1, control (additional composite bonded immediately after polymerization of the substrate composite resin); 2, repaired after 20 minutes; 3, repaired after 24 hours; 4, repaired after 1 week; 5, repaired after 1 month; and 6, repaired after 6 months. Repair consisted of placement of a layer of adhesive bonding agent and then new composite using a plastic mold. Each repair was made with the same material as the original specimen but in a different shade to facilitate fracture assessment. The repaired specimens were stored in distilled water at 37°C for 24 hours before they were submitted to a shear test. There was no statistically significant difference between group MC1 and the other MC groups, except for group MC4, which had lower shear bond strength (SBS) values than groups MC1, MC2, and MC3. Among the SC specimens, all the groups had significantly lower SBS values than group SC1. The mean SBS values of groups SC4, SC5, and SC6 were significantly lower than the SBS of group SC2. All the SC repair time groups presented significantly lower SBS values compared to their corresponding MC groups (P ≤ 0.004). The results showed that the repair bond strength of SC was adversely affected at all time periods, while this effect was not detected for MC groups except for group MC4. The SC material exhibited less repairability than the MC material.