THE SCREENING OF MATERIALS FOR ADHESION TO HUMAN TOOTH STRUCTURE

¹ Philadelphia, Pa.

1. More than 5,500 individual tests for the adhesion of various materials to tooth structure were conducted.

2. There is a difference in adhesive qualities when materials are used against enamel as compared to dentin.

3. The behavior of adhesives when tested on dry teeth has no direct bearing on the potential adhesion of the same material in the presence of moisture.

4. Fillers show some promise toward improving adhesion by better wetting of tooth surface and a potential decrease in the thermal coefficient of expansion of resins, but are not the final answer to the problems.

5. No products presently available for testing consistently maintain adhesion after prolonged water immersion.

6. High water sorption destroys the adhesive values of resins.

7. The data indicate that the test bacteria can lodge between the filling materials employed and tooth substance, when teeth are maintained in the culture at 37° C. Effects of temperature variation could not be evaluated accurately.

8. Addition of a filler to a copolymer did not reduce the chances for lodgment of the bacteria.