Curing efficiency of four self-etching, self-adhesive resin cements

Abstract

Objectives To evaluate the degree of cure (%DC) of four self-etching, self-adhesive resin cements, and one conventional resin cement, in their self- and dual-curing mode. Methods The self-etching, self-adhesive resin cements studied were RelyX頕nicem (3M項SPE頁G), Maxcem頨Kerr Corporation), Biscem頨Bisco, Inc.) and Multilinkprint (Ivoclar VivadentG) and the classic resin cement was Multilinkutomix (Ivoclar VivadentG). Twelve specimens of each material (1.8 mm נ4 mm נ4 mm) were prepared in room temperature (23 ᠱ) àfollowing the manufacturers' instructions. Six of them were treated as dual-cured, thus irradiated for 20 s with a halogen light curing unit and left undisturbed for 5 min. The other six were treated as self-cured and were not irradiated, but left in dark and dry conditions for 10 min. The assessment of the %DC was made using micro-ATR FTIR spectrometry. Results The %DC in their self-curing mode was very low (10.82-24.93%), with Multilink Sprint exhibiting the highest values among the five. In the dual-curing mode the values obtained were also low (26.40-41.52%), with the exception of Multilink Automix (61.36%). Maxcem was found to have the lowest DC. Significance The low %DC found raises questions as to whether these materials can be successfully used in clinical applications, where light attenuation takes place. Increased irradiation times could potentially lead to higher %DC, in applications where light is not completely blocked by the overlying restoration.