The purpose of this study was to determine the bonding durability when a Megabond self-etching primer is used with 4-META/MMA-TBB resin to bond metal orthodontic brackets to human premolar enamel. Three conditions of enamel were prepared: Megabond self-etching primer without saliva contamination, Megabond self-etching primer with saliva contamination, and repeat Megabond self-etching priming after saliva contamination. Shear bond strengths were measured after immersion in water at 37°C for 24 hours, or after 2000 or 5000 cycles of thermal cycling between 5°C and 55°C. There were no significant differences in shear bond strength among the three groups not only before thermal cycling, but also after thermal cycling. FE-SEM observation revealed the presence of saliva and reduced amount of resin tag formation after saliva contamination.
The present study provided the evidence in human teeth that when using 4-META/MMA-TBB resin, Megabond self-etching primer treatment produced tight bonding even when surface was contaminated with saliva.