At 18 months, the new multimode adhesive, Scotchbond Universal Adhesive, fulfilled the American Dental Association criteria required for full approval. Its clinical behavior is reliable when used in noncarious cervical lesions and may not depend on the bonding strategy. SUMMARYPurpose: To evaluate the 18-month clinical performance of a multimode adhesive (Scotchbond Universal Adhesive, SU, 3M ESPE, St Paul, MN, USA) in noncarious cervical lesions (NCCLs) using two evaluation criteria.Materials and Methods: Thirty-nine patients participated in this study. Two-hundred restorations were assigned to four groups: ERm, etch-and-rinse + moist dentin; ERd, etch-andrinse + dry dentin; Set, selective enamel etching; and SE, self-etch. The composite resin, Filtek Supreme Ultra (3M ESPE), was placed incrementally. The restorations were evaluated at baseline, and at 18 months, using both the World Dental Federation (FDI) , 2014, 39-2, 113-127 bravo for marginal adaptation using the USPHS criteria and 38%, 40%, 36%, and 44% for groups ERm, ERd, Set, and SE, respectively, when the FDI criteria were applied (p.0.05). However, when semiquantitative scores (or SQUACE) for marginal adaptation were used, SE resulted in a significantly greater number of restorations, with more than 30% of the total length of the interface showing marginal discrepancy (28%) in comparison with the other groups (8%, 6%, and 8%, respectively, for ERm, ERd, and Set).Conclusions: The clinical retention of the multimode adhesive at 18 months does not depend on the bonding strategy. The only differences between strategies were found for the parameter marginal adaptation, for which the FDI criteria were more sensitive than the USPHS criteria.

Universal adhesives that contain MDP showed higher and more stable μTBS with reduced NL at the interfaces after 6 months of water storage.

In an overall comparison of at-home and in-office bleaching, no differences were detected, either regarding risk/intensity of tooth sensitivity or the effectiveness of the bleaching treatment. This comparison, however, does not take into consideration variations in the protocols (daily usage time, number of bleaching sessions, and product concentration) of the bleaching techniques in the studies included.

By refreshing the in-office bleaching gel at each clinical appointment, clinicians can improve the bleaching speed and reduce tooth sensitivity rates. SUMMARYObjective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the use of a gel applied for 1 3 45 minutes would have the same bleaching rate and tooth sensitivity levels when compared with 3 3 15-minute applications.Methods: In-office bleaching was performed in 30 participants with 35% hydrogen peroxide gel. In one group (n=15; 3315 minutes), the bleaching agent was refreshed every 15 minutes, three times at each bleaching appointment. In the other group (n=15; 1345 minutes) the gel was left undisturbed on the buccal surfaces of all teeth for 45 minutes at each bleaching appointment. This protocol was repeated after one week. The bleaching evaluation was completed by two blinded, calibrated evaluators who compared the baseline color of the maxillary anterior teeth with a valueoriented shade guide after each period. The patients recorded the tooth sensitivity on a 0-4 scale. The color changes were evaluated by appropriate tests (a=0.05). The percentage of patients with tooth sensitivity and its intensity were also statistically analyzed (a=0.05), respectively.Results: The use of gel for a single 45-minute period (1345 minutes) decreased the bleaching efficacy (p,0.05) 86.7%, and 100% of patients from the 3 3 15-minute and 1 3 45-minute groups, respectively, experienced tooth sensi-

©Operative Dentistry, 2007, 32-4, 380-387 SUMMARYThis study compared the effects of moisture and rubbing action on the immediate and one-year microtensile bond strength (BS) of an ethanol/water-based adhesive system (Single Bond [SB]) and an acetone-based system (One Step [OS]) to dentin. A flat superficial dentin surface on 60 human molars was exposed by wet abrasion. Two coats of the adhesives were applied on either a dry (D) or rewetted surface (W) with no (NRA), slight (SRA) or vigorous rubbing action (VRA). After light curing (600mW/cm 2 /10 seconds), composite buildups were constructed incrementally and the specimens were stored in water (37°C/24 hours). They were longitudinally sectioned in the "x" and "y" directions to obtain bonded sticks (0.8 mm 2 ) to be tested in tension at 0.5 mm/minute. The sticks from each tooth were then divided, stored in water at 37°C and tested immediately and after 12 months (12M) at 0.5 mm/minute. The bond strength values of sticks from the same hemitooth were averaged for statistical purposes. The prematurely debonded specimens were included in the hemi-tooth mean. The data from each adhesive was analyzed by three-way ANOVA and Tukey's multiple comparison tests (α=0.05). In the dry groups, high bond strength values were obtained under VRA. When the Clinical RelevanceAs long as adhesives are vigorously rubbed onto dentin surfaces, high immediate and long-term bond strengths can be obtained to either air-dried or wet demineralized dentin. INTRODUCTIONAs reported by Spencer and Wang, 1 the two primary critical factors for achieving an adequate resin-dentin bonding are wetting of the dentin by components of the adhesive and micromechanical interlocking via resin penetration and the entanglement of exposed collagen fibrils in demineralized dentin.