use of a dentin adhesive instead of enamel bonding agent to reduce the etching time of enamel in primary teeth

Forty exfoliated primary incisors were divided into four groups. In two groups, enamel bonding agent was applied after etching the enamel for either 60 or 120 seconds. In the other two groups, universal bonding agent was applied after etching for either 60 or 30 seconds. The shear bond strength was evaluated in the four groups. The use of the universal bonding agent after etching the enamel for 60 seconds showed the highest shear resin bond strength. This bond strength did not differ significantly from that obtained with etching for 120 seconds followed by the application of enamel bond. Also, there was no significant difference between etching for 60 or 120 seconds before using the enamel bonding agent. It could be concluded that etching the enamel for 60 seconds is adequate for primary teeth. Etching time could be reduced to 30 seconds when a dentin adhesive designed to bond to the inorganic component of the tooth is used for resin bonding