Mechanism of adhesion of polymers to acid‐etched enamel

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Summary: The tensile bond strengths of composites to enamel etched with various concentrations of phosphoric acid have been shown to correlate closely with the phase diagram for the system Ca(OH)2/H3PO4/H2O. Bond strengths were independent of the adhesive used and were a maximum when using ∼20% phosphoric acid as etchant. High bond strengths were obtained with 2% phosphoric acid etchant without ‘tag’ formation, after short term water immersion. Washing the enamel for 60 s instead of 15 s after etching significantly increased the bond strengths obtained with 16 and 30% acid but not with 2%. Etching enamel with phosphoric acid results in deposition of calcium phosphates, which must be removed to give optimal bonding.

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