Effect of "Stress-Absorbing" Dentin Adhesives on the Interaction of Composites with Human Dentin an SEM Study.

Current dental restorative materials include tooth-colored materials called composite resins, which are made of a resin matrix and an inorganic filler coated with a silane coupling agent. Composite resins can shrink considerably upon setting. This shrinkage stress can generate gaps along the composite/dentin interface. Low-viscosity fluid resins and primers have been used to bond composite resins to dentin. The adhesive resin layer may be able to act as an elastic medium and compensate for the polymerization stresses that develop within the composite resin. The hypothesis tested in this study was that the use of a "stress-absorbing"intermediary dentin adhesive would result in lower incidence of gaps at the restoration/cavity interface and in a thicker resin/dentin interdifusion layer or hybrid layer.