Bond strength of composite resin to dentin irradiated by the Er: YAG laser : Effects of fluoride and glutaraldehyde

Abstract

Although the Er: YAG laser has been shown to effectively remove dental hard tissues, reports have indicated that laser-irradiation markedly decreases the bond strength (BS) of composite resin to dentin. I investigated the effect of fluoride and glutaraldehyde on the BS of laser-irradiated dentin. NaF and APF were used as the fluorides, and aqueous solutions of 2, 5 and 1096 glutaraldehyde were employed. Laser irradiated dentin (LID) was prepared by irradiating polished human dentin at 100mJ and 10pps, followed by application of fluoride or glutaraldehyde. Clearfil AP-X (Kuraray, Japan) composite resin was bonded to the LID with Clearfil Mega Bond (Kuraray, Japan) and the BS was measured. Statistical analysis indicated that application of NaF or glutaraldehyde at 5 or 1096 significantly increased the BS to the laser-irradiated dentin.