RESUMO
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of pretreatment with ethanolic solutions of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) at varying concentrations on the dentin collagen matrix, specifically focusing on its biomodification potential. This was assessed through evaluations of the modulus of elasticity and changes in mass. Methods: Seventy dentin collagen matrices (demineralized sticks) were prepared to receive treatments with ethanolic solutions of CAPE at concentrations of 0.05%, 0.1%, 0.5%, or 2.5%, or with control treatment solutions (distilled water or ethanol) for one hour. The dentin matrices were evaluated for modulus of elasticity and mass before (baseline), immediately after treatment (immediately), and after storage in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) for time intervals of 1 and 3 months. Results: Generalized linear models for repeated measures over time indicated no significant differences between groups (p=0.7530) or between different time points (p=0.4780) in terms of the modulus of elasticity. Regarding mass variation, no differences were observed in the time interval between 1 month and the immediate time (p=0.0935). However, at the 3-month mark compared to the immediate time, the 0.1% CAPE group exhibited less mass loss compared to the water group (p=0.0134). Conclusion: This study concludes that various concentrations of CAPE in an ethanolic solution did not affect the modulus of elasticity of dentin, suggesting that CAPE lacks biomodifying potential in this context. However, it was observed that 0.1% CAPE positively influenced the variation in mass over different evaluation time intervals