Effect of wet and dry bonding techniques on marginal leakage

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of wet and dry bonding on microleakage of C lass V restorations bonded with three bonding agents. Materials and Methods : 60 extracted human premolars and molars were randomly assigned to three g roups for bonding with Gluma CPS, EBS (ESPE) and Prime & Bond 2.1. Cavities were cut in both the buccal and lingual surfaces. Half of each preparation was in enamel and the other was in cementum/dentin. The cavities were rest ored with composite after the application of dentin bonding agents using a wet and dry technique for each material. The teeth were stored in distilled water for 6 days at 37 degrees C, thermocycled, and the restorations exami ned microscopically for leakage using Procion Brilliant Red as a marker. Re sults: All groups showed microleakage at both the enamel and dentin margins . At the gingival margin, there was a significant difference between the gr oups for both wet-bonding (P = 0.039) and dry-bonding (P = 0.024). There wa s no significant difference between the groups at the enamel margin (wet bo nding: P = 0.179, dry-bonding: P = 0.357). The wet-bonding technique was co mpared with the dry-bonding technique for each material at both the gingiva l and enamel margins and no significant differences were observed tin all c ases P > 0.47). SEM showed that in dye-labeled areas debonding occurred mos tly, but not always, near the resin-hybrid interface.