In-vitro evaluation of an experimental method for bonding of orthodontic brackets with self-adhesive resin cements.

Background: Self-adhesive resin cements do not require the surface treatment of teeth and are said to release fluoride, which makes them suitable candidates for bonding of orthodontic brackets. The objectives of this study was to investigate the shear bond strength (SBS) of self-adhesive resin cements on etched on non-etched surfaces in vitro and to assess their fluoride release features. Materials and Methods: Four fluoride-releasing dual-cure self-adhesive resin cements were investigated. For SBS experiment, 135 freshly extracted human maxillary premolars were used and divided into nine groups of 15 teeth. In the control group, brackets were cemented by Transbond XT (3M Unitek, USA), in four groups self-adhesive resin cements were used without acid-etching and in four groups self-adhesive cements were applied on acid-etched surfaces and the brackets were then deboned in shear with a testing machine. Adhesive remnant index (ARI) scores were also calculated. For fluoride release investigation, 6 discs were prepared for each self-adhesive cement. Transbond XT and Fuji Ortho LC (GC, Japan) served as negative and positive control groups, respectively. The fluoride release of each disc into 5 ml of de-ionized water was measured at days 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 56 using a fluoride ion-selective electrode connected to an ion analyzer. To prevent cumulative measurements, the storage solutions were changed daily. Results: The SBS of brackets cemented with Transbond XT were significantly higher compared to self-adhesives applied on non-etched surfaces ( P Conclusion: For the tested cements, the strongest bonds were obtained by enamel acid-etching prior to bracket bonding. All the self-adhesive resin cements had significant long-term fluoride release and could be recommended as suitable fluoride-releasing orthodontic bonding materials.