Composite cements benefit from light-curing

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of curing of composite cements and a new ceramic silanization pre-treatment on the micro-tensile bond strength (μTBS).MethodsFeldspathic ceramic blocks were luted onto dentin using either Optibond XTR/Nexus 3 (XTR/NX3; Kerr), the silane-incorporated ‘universal’ adhesive Scotchbond Universal/RelyX Ultimate (SBU/RXU; 3M ESPE), or ED Primer II/Panavia F2.0 (ED/PAF; Kuraray Noritake). Besides ‘composite cement’, experimental variables were ‘curing mode’ (‘AA’: complete auto-cure at 21 °C; ‘AA*’: complete auto-cure at 37 °C; ‘LA’: light-curing of adhesive and auto-cure of cement; ‘LL’: complete light-curing) and ‘ceramic surface pre-treatment’ (‘HF/S/HB’: hydrofluoric acid (‘HF’: IPS Ceramic Etching Gel, Ivoclar-Vivadent), silanization (‘S’: Monobond Plus, Ivoclar-Vivadent) and application of an adhesive resin (‘HB’: Heliobond, Ivoclar-Vivadent); ‘HF/SBU’: ‘HF’ and application of the ‘universal’ adhesive Scotchbond Universal (‘SBU’; 3M ESPE, only for SBU/RXU)). After water storage (7 days at 37 °C), ceramic–dentin sticks were subjected to μTBS testing.ResultsRegarding the ‘composite cement’, the significantly lowest μTBSs were measured for ED/PAF. Regarding ‘curing mode’, the significantly highest μTBS was recorded when at least the adhesive was light-cured (‘LA’ and ‘LL’). Complete auto-cure (‘AA’) revealed the significantly lowest μTBS. The higher auto-curing temperature (‘AA*’) increased the μTBS only for ED/PAF. Regarding ‘ceramic surface pre-treatment’, only for ‘LA’ the μTBS was significantly higher for ‘HF/S/HB’ than for ‘HF/SBU’.SignificanceComplete auto-cure led to inferior μTBS than when either the adhesive (on dentin) or both adhesive and composite cement were light-cured. The use of a silane-incorporated adhesive did not decrease luting effectiveness when also the composite cement was light-cured.