Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bonding ability of four representative dentin-adhesive systems by applying the micro-shear bond strength (μ-SBS) test method and to evaluate the influence of adhesive area limitation on the bond strength. Two different adhesive application methods were used in the μ-SBS test (with and without adhesives area limitation), and four representative adhesive systems were used in this study. Each dentin surface was treated with one of the four representative adhesive systems, and with twenty samples per group (n=20), each of the four groups underwent a μ-SBS test. The results showed that the bond strength was significantly influenced by the adhesive application method (p<0.05), the adhesive type (p<0.05) and the interaction between the two factors (p<0.05). With regard to the four representative dentin-adhesive systems, 3-E&R has a much better bond quality compared to the other adhesive systems. Furthermore, the micro-shear bond strength test method of restricting the area of both the adhesive and the resin is more reliable for evaluating the bonding property of adhesives to dentin, and it is also adequate for comparing the different adhesives systems.