A comparative study on bond strength and adhesive failure pattern in bracket bonding with self-etching primer

Kim, You Kyoung; Lee, Jin Woo; Cha, Kyung Suk

Abstract

A self-etching primer that combines the etchant and primer in one chemical compound saves time and should be more cost-effective to the clinician and patient. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a self-etching primer by measuring shear bond strengths according to various conditions and observing adhesive failure patterns. For this investigation, 120 upper and lower premolars extracted for orthodontic purposes were used and randomly divided into six groups of twenty teeth each. Human premolars were embedded in a metal cylinder with orthodontic resin. Metal brackets and ceramic brackets were bonded with XT primer and self-etching primer by means of XT adhesive. Upon curing, plasma arc light and visible light were used. After bonding, the shear bond strength was tested by Instron universal testing machine, and the amount of residual adhesive that remained on the tooth after debonding was measured by stereoscope and assessed with an adhesive remnant index. The results were as follows: 1. When brackets were bonded, if other conditions remained the same, there was no significant difference in shear bond strength due to the type of primer - either self-etching primer or XT primer. 2. When metal brackets were bonded, there was no significant difference in shear bond strength according to the source of light - plasma arc light or visible light - and type of primer. 3. There was a very significant difference in shear bond strength according to the type of brackets - metal or ceramic brackets. The shear bond strength of ceramic brackets was stronger than metal brackets. 4. When the adhesive failure patterns of metal brackets bonded with self-etching primer were observed by using the adhesive remnant index, the bond failure of the metal bracket occurred more frequently at the bracket-adhesive. The failure of the ceramic bracket, however, occurred more frequently at the enamel-adhesive interface. The adhesive failure patterns of metal brackets bonded with XT primer observed the same patterns. The above results suggest that self-etching primer can be clinically useful for bonding the brackets without fear of a decrease in shear bond strength.