T HE EFFECT OF ADDING AN ANTIBACTERIAL MONOMER ON THE BOND QUALITY OF A LUTING CEM ENTATION SYSTEM NICOLETTA CHIEFFI 1 ,S TEFANO CHERSONI 1,2 ,F EDERICA P APACCHINI 1 ,M ICHELE VANO 1,3 , CECILIA GORACCI 1 , CAREL L. DAVIDSON 1 , F RANKLIN R. T AY 1,4 ,M ARCO F ERRARI 1 SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL DENTISTRY SOUTH AFRICA VOL 8., NO 1 Introduction Exposure of dentinal tubules during tooth preparation requires that they are adequately sealed as soon as possible to prevent microleakage, bacterial invasion, 1-3 and minimize postoperative sensitivity. 4-7 Treatments available to protect the dentin-pulp system include agents that seal tubules with resins, 5,6,8,9 crystal sediments, 10-12 or with both materials. 13 Previously, different results were reported on the contribution of adhesive systems regarding dentin sealing. Some studies claimed that dentin bonding alone was able to guarantee a tight seal of the tubules 14-15 . Others concluded that dentin bonding did not completely seal dentinal tubules and, as a result, could not prevent bacterial penetration 16,17 . Recent in vitro 18,19 and in vivo 20,21 studies have shown that simplified etch- 1 Department of Dental Materials, University of Siena, Siena, Italy. 2 Department of Dental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 3 Department of Oral Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. 4 Department of Oral Biology & Maxillofacial Pathology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia, USA Corresponding Author: Prof. Dr Marco Ferrari, University of Siena, School of Dental Medicine, Department of Dental Sciences, Policlinico Le Scotte, Viale Bracci, Siena, 53100, Italy Phone: +39.0577.233131, Fax: +39.0577.233117, E-mail: ferrarimar@unisi.it and-rinse and self-etch adhesives behave as permeable membranes after polymerization. These adhesives allow continuous transmission of the dentinal fluid and thus do not provide a hermetic seal when applied to vital deep dentin. Additional measures to protect vital teeth can be taken by adding antibacterial agents to self-etch adhesives. It has been demonstrated that the recently introduced monomer 12- methacryloyloxydodecylpyridinium bromide (MDPB) provides extensive 22,23 and prolonged 24 antibacterial activity, before and after polymerization. The new commercially available, self-etch primer, Clearfil Protect Bond (Kuraray Medical Inc., Tokyo, Japan) contains this antibacterial resin monomer. 25,26 Consequently, a prototype of Panavia resin cement (Kuraray Medical Inc., Tokyo, Japan) in which MDPB is included has recently been formulated. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the quality of bonding of the new antibacterial monomer- containing Panavia prototype is not negatively affected by admixing the agent to the primer of the system. Panavia F was used as control. Micro-tensile bond strength and SEM examination of the interface were used as parameters for bonding quality. The null hypotheses tested was that the incorporation of an antibacterial resin monomer in a dual-cured resin cement does Abstract Purpose: To examine the bond quality of a luting cement after the incorporation of an antibacterial molecule into the primer. Methods: Eight non-carious human third molars were randomly divided in two equal groups. Cylindrical composite blocks were luted with Panavia F (Group I) and Panavia Prototype (Group II). Seating pressure was applied during the entire three-minute polymerization period of the resin cement to minimize fluid interferences from the underlying dentin. After being stored in distilled water for 24 hours, 0.9 x 0.9 mm sticks were produced from these luted specimens for microtensile bond testing and SEM examination. Results: No statistical difference in the bond strength between the control Group and the experimental Group was detected (p>0.05). From SEM analysis, between the two groups, no significant differences were found. Conclusions and clinical significance: The addition of an antibacterial monomer (MDPB) to the existing Panavia F luting cementation system does not negatively affect final bond quality and might extend the application of the cement. Keyw ords: resin cement; antibacterial activity; bond strength