Introduction: Cavity disinfectants help to remove the microbial remnants; hence, its use prior to any restoration is valuable, and a search for alternative to chlorhexidine (CHX) is required which may be more efficacious and can overcome the drawbacks of CHX.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of application of three different cavity disinfectants in a clinically relevant time period on the immediate and delayed shear bond strengths (SBSs) of an etch-and-rinse adhesive system to dentin.
Materials and methods: For SBS testing, flat coronal dentin surfaces were prepared in two hundred extracted human molars. Specimens were randomly assigned to four groups according to the disinfectant used: Group I: Control (no disinfectant), Group II: 2% CHX solution, Group III: Aloe barbadensis miller (Aloe vera) solution, and Group IV: Azadirachta indica (neem) solution. Specimens were bonded using Prime and Bond NT adhesive which was employed according to the manufacturer's instructions. Resin composite cylinder buildups were done in all the samples. The modes of failure were noted after visual examination using a binocular stereomicroscope. Samples were also analyzed under scanning electron microscope for observation of resin-dentin interface. SBS results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test.
Results: The results showed that CHX, Aloe vera, and neem had improved bond strengths as compared to the control group for both immediate and delayed SBSs.
Conclusion: From the results of the study, the authors concluded that Aloe vera and neem can be used as alternative cavity disinfectants to CHX.
Keywords: Antimicrobial efficacy; Azadirachta indica; chlorhexidine; matrix metalloproteinases; microleakage.