COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE SHEAR BOND STRENGTH OF SELF-ETCH ADHESIVE TO CARIES AFFECTED DENTINAL SURFACE TREATED WITH CONVENTIONAL METHOD AND CHEMO MECHANICAL METHOD” –AN IN VITRO STUDY.

Aim: To evaluate the effect of two chemo-mechanical caries removal agent on bonding of self-etch adhesive to caries affected dentin in comparison to the standard rotary instrument's caries removal method. Sixty permanent molar teeth exhibiting f Methods: rank moderate cavitation extending to at least half the distance from DEJ to pulp chamber were selected and embedded in acrylic resin up to the CEJ. These were grouped randomly into three experimental groups (n=20), Group I, caries infected dentin removed by tungsten-carbide diamond bur mounted in low-speed handpiece (NSK); Group II, caries removal by V-Carie-Solve (Vishal Dentocare) and Group III, caries removal by Carie-Fix (Dengen Dental). Gluma bond Universal (Kulzer) was applied as bonding agent in the self-etch mode. The three groups were further divided into two subgroups (n=10) based on the composite used, namely Neospectra ST Universal (Dentsply Sirona) and Fusion Flo (Prevest DenPro). Teeth were stored in distilled water at 0 37 C for 24 h before subjecting to shear stress in Universal testing machine and bond strength values were recorded. Results collected were subjected to statistical analysis by One-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey's HSD Post hoc analysis. Results: Highest shear bond strength values were observed when caries was removed using V-Carie-Solve and restored using Neospectra ST Universal. The control groups utilizing conventional rotary instrumentation exhibited significantly lower bond strengths in comparison to the groups utilizing chemo-mechanical methods in both types of restorative treatments. Comparative analysis showed that although V-Carie-Solve produced slightly higher bond strength than Carie-Fix, the variation was not statistically significant. However, Neospectra ST Universal exhibited significantly higher bond strength values in comparison to Fusion Flo irrespective of the caries removal method used. Within the limitations of Conclusion: this study, it was concluded that chemo-mechanical caries removal technique can be effectively used as an alternative to rotary excavation methods.