This study aimed to evaluate the mean shear bond strength of molar tubes wi
th micro-etched bases bonded with either a compomer (Ultra Band-Lok), a res
in-modified glass ionomer cement QM Multi-Cure or Fuji Ortho LQ, or a light
-cured resin adhesive (Transbond). The amount of adhesive remaining on the
tooth surface following tube removal was assessed also. Finally, survival t
ime of molar tubes bonded with each bonding agent was assessed following si
mulated mechanical fatigue in a ball mill. A total of 120 extracted human t
hird molars were collected and randomly divided into 4 test groups. Thirty
teeth (20 to assess debonding force and 10 to assess survival time) were bo
nded with each adhesive according to the manufacturers' instructions. Debon
ding was carried out using, a Nene M3000 testing machine with a crosshead s
peed of 0.5 mm/min. The mean shear bond strength of tubes bonded with Trans
bond was significantly less than that of those bonded with 3M Multi-Cure (P
=.0036) or Fuji Ortho LC (P <.0001). Tubes bonded with Ultra Band-Lok also
had significantly lower mean shear bond strength than those bonded with Fu
ji Ortho LC (P =.020). Distribution of adhesive remnant index scores only d
iffered significantly between tubes bonded with 3M Multi-Cure or Transbond.
Only 1 molar tube, bonded with Transbond, debonded in the ball mill at 5 h
ours, but at 50 hours there was no significant difference in the survival t
ime of tubes bonded with any of the bonding agents. Compomer or resin-modif
ied glass ionomer cements appear to be viable alternatives to light-cured r
esin adhesive for bonding molar tubes.