Effects of blood contamination on microtensile bond strength to dentin of three self-etch adhesives

This study evaluated the effects of blood contamination and decontamination methods during diff챕rent steps of bonding procedures on the microtensile bond strength of two-step self-etch adhesives to dentin. Sixty extracted human molars were ground flat to expose occlusal dentin. The 60 molars were randomly assigned to three groups, each treated with a different twostep self-etch adhesive: Clearfil SE Bond, AdheSE and Tyrian SPE. In turn, these groups were subdivided into five subgroups (n=20), each treated using different experimental conditions as follows: control group-no contamination; contamination group 1-CG1: primer application/ contamination/primer re-application; contamination group 2-CG2: primer application/contamination/wash/dry/primer re-application; contamination group 3-CG3: primer application/adhesive application/light curing/contamination/ adhesive re-application/light curing; contamination group 4-CG4: primer application/adhesive application/light curing/contamination/wash/ dry/adhesive re-application/light curing. Composite buildup was performed using Z250. After 24 hours of storage in distilled water at 37째C, the bonded specimens were trimmed to an hourglass shape and serially sectioned into slabs with 0.6 mm 2 cross-sectional areas. Microtensile bond strengths (MTBS) were assessed for each specimen using a universal testing machine. The data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA followed by a post hoc LSD test. SEM evaluations of the fracture modes were also performed. The contaminated specimens showed lower bond strengths than specimens in the control group (p<0.05), with the exception of CG1 in the Clearfil SE group and CG2 and CG3 in the Tyrian SPE group. Among the three self-etch adhesives, the Tyrian SPE group exhibited a significantly lower average MTBS compared to the Clearfil SE Bond and AdheSE (p