Touch-cure activation by marketed universal resin luting cements of their associated primer to dentin

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the dentin shear bond strength (SBS) and bonding interface of three recently developed "universal" resin luting cements based on different modalities. METHODS: The dentin SBS and interfacial analysis of three recently launched "universal" resin luting cements, namely, G-Cem One, RelyX Universal and Panavia SA cement universal, were studied. All bonding protocols, including the previous use of their dedicated primer or universal adhesive in touch-cure mode or light-cure mode were performed. Variolink Esthetic LC used in conjunction with Scotchbond Universal Plus was used as a control group. For each group (n = 9), 10 specimens were tested for dentin SBS and two were examined by scanning electron microscopy. SBS were analyzed by two-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test. RESULTS: SBS values showed that the three "universal" resin luting cements tested exhibit different adhesive behaviors. G-Cem One with its touch-cure activated primer had a greater SBS to dentin (25.5 MPa) than that of the control group (22.1 MPa). CONCLUSION: "Universal" resin luting cements have variable efficacy when used in self-curing mode. The touch-curing mode is also of concern but may show high potential for some formulations.