Effect of dentinal pretreatment on bond strength between glass-ionomer cement and dentin.

Removal of the dentinal smear layer prior to placement of glass-ionomer cement is thought to maximize the strength of glass-ionomer cement/dentin bonding. This study evaluated the effect of three polyacrylic acid pretreatments on bond shear strength between glass-ionomer cement and dentin. Extracted human molars were divided into four groups of 30 specimens each. One group (the control) received no pretreatment. Specimens in the remaining groups were pretreated with one of three commercially available polyacrylic acid conditioners, used according to the manufacturers' recommendations. The results indicated significant differences in shear strength among pretreatment conditions. Since the manufacturers' recommendations varied, it is not clear if these results were due to differences in polyacrylic acid concentration or to other factors, such as application time or placement procedure.