Original Article
INTRODUCTIONAccording to Buonocore MG (1955), acid etching has been a standard practice to remove smear layer for successful bonding [1]. The long standing bonding strength is due to the micromechanical bond formation. In 1965, Newman GV reported epoxy resin use for attaching brackets [2]. The overall treatment results improved with the bonding procedure by eliminating occupancy of inter-dental spaces by band, reduced gingival irritation, and facilitating plaque removal and reducing decalcification [3]. Since then a variety of bonding procedures and adhesives have been reported to improve the orthodontic bond strength [4,5].Direct bonding of orthodontic brackets to the etched surface of enamel has many merits along with some demerits. The main problems are loss of surface enamel and demineralization near the bracket and conventional acid etching requires all the steps of enamel conditioning (acid etching, rinsing, drying, and application of bonding agent) to be properly carried out. The loss of surface enamel and subsurface enamel weakening, leading to detachment or fracture of enamel surface during debonding occurs due to a strong acidic conditioning liquid or prolonged etching [6]. It has been extensively reported that the use of SEPs produce a milder etch pattern than 37% phosphoric acid [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Although conventional acid etching of the enamel surface leads to more enamel loss than does the use of SEPs [11], the etching pattern observed with 37% phosphoric acid for 15 seconds seems more conservative than the typical honeycomb etched pattern observed when the enamel surface was etched for 30 seconds [7,12,14]. In any case, SEPs seem to produce a milder etching pattern than the phosphoric acid. However, due to some disadvantages in conventional technique like increased chair side time and uncontrolled demineralization of enamel surface, the self etching primer was formulated. Using a SEP, procedure of bonding is simplified by combining etching and priming processes into a single step procedure. Additional to saving time, minimum steps for bonding procedure might lead to minimum procedural errors.The aim of this in-vitro study was to compare the SBS of orthodontic bracket bonded with SEP and conventional acid etching system, to study the surface appearance of teeth after debonding; etching with conventional acid etch and self-etch priming using stereomicroscope and to evaluate correlation between SBS and surface roughness.
MATERIALS AND METHODSThe present in-vitro study was conducted in Department of Orthodontics, ACPM Dental College and Hospital Dhule, Maharashtra, India, during September-December 2015. In this in-vitro study freshly extracted 100 non-carious and un-restored maxillary first premolars extracted for orthodontic treatment were collected and stored in normal saline.Premolars were selected on basis of non-carious, freshly extracted premolars with intact buccal surface, non-hypoplastic, non-fluorosed, no restorations, no cracks and no extraction forceps marks.E...
