title: Academy of Dental Materials guidance on in vitro testing of dental composite bonding effectiveness to dentin/enamel using micro-tensile bond strength (μTBS) approach.
abstract: An ideal dental adhesive should provide retentive strength, marginal seal, be relatively simple to achieve and demonstrate clinical durability. Future improvements in adhesive bonding to tooth structure require in vitro test methods that provide reliable data for materials development and/or evaluation of experimental variables. The objective of this project was to identify a test method that is relatively easy to perform, repeatable and ultimately useful for predicting clinical outcomes.
  
  
  
  The Academy of Dental Materials initiated a project to develop and distribute guidance documents on laboratory test methods that are useful for the evaluation of dental adhesives and cements, composite resins and ceramics.
  
  
  
  The dental adhesive sub-group has identified the micro-tensile bond strength test, especially after subjecting the specimens to a durability challenge, as currently the best practical surrogate measure of dental composite restoration retention.
  
  
  
  The following μTBS guidance is meant to aid the researcher in conducting the μTBS test. The authors, while recognizing the limitations of a static, strength-based test method, welcome comments and suggestions for improvements of this guidance document in future revisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Operative Dentistry, College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics, University of Iowa, USA. Electronic address: steven-armstrong@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, DIBINEM, University of Bolgna, Italy. Electronic address: lorenzo.breschi@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Breschi
authors.affiliation: Dental Materials Unit, Center for Dental and Oral Medicine, Clinic for Rixed and Removable Prosthodontics and Dental Materials Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: mutluozcan@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Mutlu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Özcan
authors.affiliation: Dental Research, Clinical Affairs, Dentsply Sirona Restorative, Germany. Electronic address: Frank.Pfefferkorn@dentsplysirona.com.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pfefferkorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics and Dental Materials, University of Siena, Italy. Electronic address: ferrarm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Health Sciences, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: bart.vanmeerbeek@med.kuleuven.ac.be.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Van Meerbeek
mesh_terms: D003188:Composite Resins; D001840:Dental Bonding; D003738:Dental Cements; D003743:Dental Enamel; D003764:Dental Materials; D003804:Dentin; D017220:Dentin-Bonding Agents; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D019279:Resin Cements; D013499:Surface Properties; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D003188:Composite Resins; D003738:Dental Cements; D003764:Dental Materials; D017220:Dentin-Bonding Agents; D019279:Resin Cements
keywords: Bond strength; Bonding; Composite; Dentin; Enamel; Guidance; Guidelines; Laboratory; Micro-tensile