Performance of MDP-based system in eroded and carious dentin associated with proteolytic inhibitors: 18-Month exploratory study.

The aim of this study was to explore the impact of the interaction between an MDP-based universal adhesive system in etch-and-rinse mode and two proteolytic inhibitors on the longevity of restorations bonded to artificially-affected-dentin substrates. 90 sound human third molars were randomly distributed into three groups according to the substrate: N-no challenges-control (stored in artificial saliva), ACD-artificial caries dentin (6 h DE + 18 h-RE/5 days + 48 h RE) and ERO-artificial erosion dentin (3 × 5 min/5 days with orange juice). They were further redistributed according to dentin pretreatment: W- water (control), CHX-2% digluconate chlorhexidine and E64- 5 μM E64-Trans-Epoxysuccinyl-L-Leucylamido-(4-guanidino) butane, which resulted in the following 9 groups (n = 10): N-W, N-CHX, N-E64, ACD-W, ACD-CHX, ACD-E64, ERO-W, ERO-CHX and ERO-E64. All specimens were restored with Adper Single Bond Universal (Etch-and-rinse mode)/Filtek Z250. Sticks (0.64 mm) were obtained and subjected to microtensile test (μTBS) in a universal testing machine at 0.5 mm/min for 7-days, 6 and 18-month analyses. Failure modes were classified using optical microscopy (40X). Data were statistically analyzed by three-way ANOVA and Tukey tests (p < 0.05). All individual factors (p < 0.0001) and interaction between factors were statistically significant (substrate X pretreatment (p = 0.00093); substrate X time (p = 0.01035) and pretreatment X time (p = 0.0035). Caries-affected substrate was the most compromised one, disregarding the pretreatment. CHX was mostly affected compared with E64 up to 18 months, possibly due to its calcium-dependent mechanism.