The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of heat denaturation of dentinal protein onadhesive strength. In this study, a model system for resin-impregnated layers (RILs) was proposed, andcompression test was tried in order to clarify the relationship between RIL and adhesion strengths. Bovineincisors were heated in 93+1°C water for 1 hr to denature the dentinal protein uniformly (heat-treated).Superbond (SB) and Panavia 21 (PA) were used as the resin adhesives. Heat-treated and untreated dentinswere powdered respectively, decalcified by hydrochloric acid, washed with distilled water, and dried. Dentinpowder thus prepared and resin adhesive were mixed, then specimens of 3 mm in diameter and 4 mm in heightwere fabricated in Teflon molds. They were allowed to set at room temperature for 24 hrs. Compressiontests were performed on ten specimens for each group. The compressive strength and elastic modulus weresubjected to the Student's t-test to determine the statistical significance of any difference. Compressivestrength of the heat-treated group was significantly weaker than that of the untreated group (SB: p<0.01, PA: p<0.001). The elastic modulus of the heat-treated group was significantly smaller than that of theuntreated group (SB: p<0.001, PA: p<0.01).
