Enamel Bond Strength of Self-Etch Adhesives with Phototherapy Active Application: a Pilot Study

The present study assessed the effect of the active application of self-etch adhesives with phototherapy on enamel bond strength. Sixty bovine incisors, individually embedded in acrylic blocks, were divided into two groups according to the adhesive system used: Group 1 (AEO) Adper Easy One and Group 2 (CSEP) Clearfil SE Protect. According to the application technique of self-etch adhesives, each main group was further divided into three subgroups (n =10): (PA) passive application, (AP) active application, and (PAA) phototherapy active application. Shear bond strength (SBS) tests were conducted using a universal testing machine. The data were analyzed via two-way ANOVA and posthoc multiple comparisons using the Tukey HSD test. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the distribution of failure modes was carried out using the χ² test (p < 0.05). Two-way ANOVA indicated no significant differences in either adhesive systems (p = 0.797) or application technique (p = 0.869). Similarly, a χ² test showed no significant difference in the distribution of failure modes concerning surface treatments (p = 0.905). The use of phototherapy as a diode laser for the active application of the tested self-etch adhesives in the present study exhibited similar initial enamel bonding performance to conventional application methods.