Effects of dentin bonding agents on bonding durability of a flowable composite to dentin

The present study evaluated the bonding durability of a flowable composite on bovine dentin using dentin bonding agents with different numbers of application steps: Scotchbond Multipurpose (three steps), Prime & Bond NT and One-Step (two steps), AQ Bond and Prompt L-Pop (one step). Shear bond strength tests were performed, and resin-dentin interface and fracture mode were observed. There were no significant differences in bond strength among the specimens within 37 degrees C storage group (p > 0.05) and post-thermocycling group, except between Prompt L-Pop and Scotchbond Multipurpose (p < 0.05) in the post-thermocycling group. Further, Scotchbond Multipurpose and One-Step showed significantly lower bond strengths after thermocycling (p < 0.05). It was thus shown that the use of simplified bonding agents did not necessarily improve the bonding strength of flowable composites.