Quantitative evaluation of self-etching primer action on dentin permeability: A correlation between impedance measurements and acidity

Abstract

International audiencePurpose: To evaluate quantitatively the effect of six contemporary self-etching systems on dentin permeability by means of the electrochemical impedance technique and to correlate these results with their acidity. Methods: 36 1.1 mm thick dentin disks were embedded in a hollow polyurethane resin cylinder. The system used was a "like" permeation cell: two electrodes immersed in a 10(-1) KCl solution were attached to a potentiostat. It was connected to a microcomputer controlled frequency response analyzer, and a 10 mV sinusoidal voltage signal over a frequency range of 1 Hz to 65 kHz was applied between the electrodes. The current passing through the dentin was measured to enable a calculation of impedance expressed in a complex number. To establish an evaluation of permeability variation, the resistance was noted for all specimens before and after the application of self-etching adhesive. A pH meter used with a combined glass-electrode measured the pH of all the systems. Results: The higher decrease of the resistance of dentin samples was obtained with Experimental (EXP), which presented no significant difference with Touch and Bond (TB), Etch and Prime 3.0 (EP), and Etch Free Tenure (EF). These acidic monomers improved the dentin permeability respectively to 6.7, 5.1, 5.0 and 5.0%. The lowest values were obtained with Clearfil SE Bond (SEB) (2.0%), which showed significant difference with all the other systems. Prompt L-Pop (PLP) with 4.3% showed significant difference with EXP and SEB and no significant difference with the three other systems. The pH and permeability variation were not systematically correlated