Effect of low fluency dentin conditioning on tensile bond strength of composite bonded to Er:YAG laser-prepared dentin: a preliminary study

Several studies in the literature have previously shown that the bond strength of a composite bonded to dentin is almost equivalent as when dentin is prepared by either bur or Er:YAG laser. The aim of this preliminary study is to assess the hypothesis that dentin conditioning at low fluency by means of Er:YAG laser can improve the value of adhesion of composites resin to dentin. Sixty surfaces of caries-free human third molars extracted for orthodontic purposes were randomly divided into five groups of 12 teeth. The bur group was the control, prepared using bur, group L was prepared using Er:YAG 200 mJ, SSP (50 µs), 20 Hz, 15 seconds of sweeping, for groups L80, L100, L120, they were prepared first, with the same parameters of the group L 200, and then they received a conditioning, which is, respectively, 15 s of irradiations at: 80 mJ (SSP, 10 Hz), 100 mJ (SSP, 10 Hz), and 120 mJ (SSP, 10 Hz). All samples were restored in a single-component adhesive system: Xenon (DENTSPLY), and ceramX (DENTSPLY) as the resin composite. The specimens were submitted to tensile bond strength test using a universal testing machine. Data were submitted to statistical analysis using ANOVA coupled to a Tukey-Kramer test at the 95% level. The mean values in MPa were 33.3 for group B, 36.73 for group L 200, 41.7 for group L80, 37.9 for group L100, and 39.1 for group L120. Our results showed that dentin conditioning at a low fluency of 12.58 J/cm² per pulse, with 80 mJ output energy and 50-µs pulse duration can significantly improve tensile bond strength of a composite bonded to Er:YAG laser-prepared dentine.