Shear bond strength of self-etching bonding systems in combination with various composites used for repairing aged composites

Purpose: Repair of worn, broken or discolored composite restorations can be accomplished using new composite material and dentin bonding systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of self-etching adhesive systems for composite re-bonding procedures onto different composite substrates that had been aged for 6 years prior to testing. Materials and Methods: Two hundred cylinders (4 mm × 5 mm) of composite were fabricated using 4 hybrid composites [AeliteFil (Bisco), Prodigy (SDS Kerr), TPH (Dentsply Caulk), and Z100 (3M ESPE)] following manufacturers' directions and stored for 6 years in 1% NaCl solution. After aging, each specimen was wet polished through 600-grit SiC and randomly assigned to a self-etching bonding system (Adper Prompt L-Pop/Z100 [3M ESPE]; Tyrian One-Step Plus/AeliteFil [Bisco]; OptiBond Solo Plus SE/Prodigy [SDS Kerr], Xeno III/TPH [Dentsply Caulk]) or a total-etch control (Prime&Bond NT/TPH [Dentsply Caulk]) (n = 10 per group). Shear bond strengths (SBS) for repairs were evaluated after 48 h (crosshead speed = 0.5 mm/min) and were compared by two-way ANOVA (p = 0.05) with Tukey post-hoc tests. Results: Significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) were detected for the main effects (substrates and bonding systems), but the interaction was not significant. SBS for bonding systems were from highest to lowest: (1) Prime&Bond NT, (2) OptiBond Solo Plus SE, (3) Adper Prompt L-Pop, (4) Xeno III, (5) Tyrian One-Step Plus. SBS of the repair systems to Z100 were significantly lower than those to the other composite substrates. Conclusion: Self-etching systems can be used to repair aged composite, but the efficacy of repair of aged composite is system dependent.