Effect of Ozone Pretreatment on Shear Bond Strength of Etch-and-Rinse and Self-Etch Adhesive Systems: An In-vitro Study

This study aimed to evaluate influence of gaseous ozone pretreatment on dentinal Shear Bond Strength (SBS) when using etch-and-rinse and self-etch adhesives. Eighty extracted mandibular molars (n = 80) were allocated into four groups (n = 20) based on adhesive protocol and ozone pretreatment: Group I: etch-and-rinse; Group II: Gaseous ozone + etch-and-rinse; Group III: Self-etch; Group IV: Gaseous ozone + self-etch. Following adhesive application and composite build-up, all specimens were subjected to SBS using universal testing machine. The results were statistically analyzed using ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Among control groups, Group I exhibited the highest SBS values, while Group III demonstrated the lowest. Within the ozone-pretreated groups, Group IV recorded the lowest SBS values overall. Gaseous ozone pretreatment led to a reduction in dentinal shear bond strength for both etch-and-rinse and self-etch adhesive systems. Key Words: Adhesive, Etch-and-rinse, Gaseous ozone, Self-etch, Shear bond strength