Pulpal response to phosphoric acid

The chemical treatment of tooth surfaces to improve bonding of dental materials to enamel and dentin is one of the approaches in overcoming the lack of adhesion of the available restorative materials to tooth structure. The acid etch technique is now an accepted procedure in restorative and preventive dentistry and for the direct bonding of orthodontic attachments. The pulpal response elicited by one of the conditioning agents, 50 % H 3 PO 4 applied for 1 minute, was investigated in the teeth of the vervet monkey. The differences between most of the criteria used to evaluate the pulpal responses in acid‐treated and control teeth at three time intervals, namely 4, 14 and 42 days, were statistically significant. These results suggest that a protective lining should be used to cover exposed dentin before etching adjacent enamel surfaces with 50 % H 3 PO 4 .