ACIDETCHING

Etching of dental enamel with an acid to remove the smear layer and open enamel tubules, increase retention of resin sealant, and promote mechanical retention. OR acid etching of dental enamel with an acid in order to roughen the surface, increase retention of resin sealant, and promote mechanical retention.

PREREQUISITES :Enamel at the cavity margin must be fully mineralized. Also there must be no microcracks present on the tooth. The best union will be developed at the ends of enamel rod rather than along the long sides. In juvenile enamel there is less mineral & more organic collision present & therefore the etched surface is quite different. In deciduous tooth even a small cavity will be relatively close to the pulp & therefore there will be greater density oftubules on the floor of the cavity & relatively greater fluid flow.

ACID ETCHING OF ENAMEL MECHANISM:

The first meaningful proof of intra-oral adhesion was reported in 1955 by MICHAEL BUONOCORE. He etched the enamel surface with acids and then placed an acrylic restoration material on the micro mechanically roughened surface . The monomer of the acrylic resin wet the etched surface flowed into the etched pits and generated retentive resin tags . One of the surface conditioning agents he used, phosphoric acid is still most widely used etchent today for bonding enamel and dentin. Acid etching of enamel is one of the most effective ways to improve mechanical bonding and to ensure sealed interfacial gaps. This procedure has markedly expanded use of resin based restorative material because it provides a strong bond between enamel and resin forming the basis of many dental procedures such as resin-bonded metal retain , porcelian laminate veneers and bonded orthodontic brackets.

The bonding agent & low viscosity monomers are then applied over the etched enamel surface. The bonding agents due to their low viscosity rapidly wet & penetrate the clean, dried conditioned enamel into microspaces forming resin tags. These resin tags which forms between enamel prisms are known as MACROTAGS.

MACROTAGS & MICROTAGS

The finer network of numerous small tags are formed across the end of each rod where individual hydroxyapetite crystals were dissolved known as MICROTAGS. The formation of resin micro & macrotags with in the enamel surface constitute the fundamental mechanism of enamel-resin adhesion. Basically microtags are more important due to their large number & greater surface area of contact.

ENAMEL SURFACE-:

The activation of the acid and commencement of the etching process:-

ETCHANTS

The common etchants is phosphoric acid solution of 37 conc. Etchant with morethan 50% react with enamel forms monocalcium phosphate monoydrate which is insoluble and prevents further etching. The recent trend is to use phosphoric acid of lower conc. 15-30% for forming deeper tags. Gel form is preffered as its flow is limited only to the etching area. Sometimes other etchants and conditioner acids are used for cleansing the surface debris or smear layer.

ETCHING TECHNIQUE STEPS:

CLEANING the enamel surface by pumice slurry and then washing with water. ETCHING the surface by placing the etchant gel using brush or liquid for 30-60 sec. WASHING the etched surface by flushing with water carefully for 15sec. DRYING the surface with mild stream of air. BONDING AGENT is applied immediately before the etched surface get contaminated with moisture.

PRECAUTIONS :

Acid-Etchant should not come in contact with the exposed dentin surface as the acid ions penetrate through the dentinal tubules , as a precaution we can use calcium hydroxide cement. Delicate etched surface has thin fragile surface, they should not be damaged by touching. The etched surface should not get contaminated with blood saliva , moisture or oil sprays before the bonding resin is applied. THE ETCHED SURFACE HAS A FROSTED WHITISH APPEARANCE IF THE ACID-ETCHING IS DONE PROPERLY AND THUS PRODUCING A BOND STRENGTH OF ABOUT 15-25 MEGA PASCAL.

ACID-ETCHING OF DENTIN

In 1979 FUSAYAMA, used 37% of phosphoric acid solution for etching enamel and dentin and showed that it did not damage the pulp and improve the bond strength. In 1982 NAKABAYASHI, discovered formation of a hybrid layer of resin infiltrated dentin. Around 1990 the dentin etching procedure was accepted.

PRINCIPLES OF DENTIN- BONDING

Composite resins were developed by coupling agents which can bond chemically with the resin matrix at one side and silica filler at other side. This coupling agent contained at one end and unsaturated methyl methacrylate groups to chemically combine with resin matrix at other end a silane group (x) to combine with silica filler and a spacer structure are in between. This m-r-x bonding was very successful to get the composite resin of high strength , lower COTE and polymerisation shrinkages. According to these principles many varieties or generations of bonding agents have been passed.

There are following generations under dentin bonding :FIRST GENERATION SECOND GENERATION THIRD GENERATION FOURTH GENERATION FIFTH & SIXTH GENERATION.

Dentin surface after etching-:

ETCHED SURFACE AFTER REMOVAL OF SMEAR LAYER-: