Cross-sectional imaging of tooth bonding interface after thermal stresses and mechanical fracture

This study determined the influence of thermocycling (TC) and flowable composite on microtensile bond strength (MTBS), crack formation and mechanical properties of the bonding interface using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) and nanoindentation. MTBS test beams prepared from human dentin bonded with self-etch adhesive and hybrid composite with or without flowable lining were aged for either 0 or 10,000 thermocycles, resulting in 4 groups of specimens according to the placement technique and TC (n=10). 2D images were obtained before and after MTBS test to detect crack at interface using SS-OCT. Hardness across resin-dentin bonding area were measured using nanoindentation. Two-way ANOVA showed that flowable lining significantly increased MTBS (p<0.05). TC significantly increased crack percentage in composite while there was no significant difference in dentin crack. Moreover, TC significantly affected the hardness of dentin and resin composites (p<0.05). SS-OCT is effective in detecting internal fracture in substrate.