Effect of chlorhexidine on the 18-month clinical performance of two adhesives.

This study tested the hypothesis that 2% chlorhexidine (CHX) does not affect the 18-month clinical performance of two dentin adhesives, XP Bond (XPB) and XENO V (XEN). A total of 120 noncarious cervical lesions (NCCL) were selected and assigned to 4 groups: (1) XPB; (2) CHX prior to the application of XPB; (3) XEN; (4) CHX prior to the application of XEN. A hybrid composite resin, Esthet•X, was used for all restorations. Restorations were evaluated blindly at 6 and 18 months by two evaluators using the University of North Carolina (UNC)-modified USPHS criteria. Statistical analyses included the Mann Whitney and McNemar nonparametric tests (p < 0.05). At 6 months, 91 (75.2%) restorations were evaluated, while 92 (76.7%) restorations were evaluated at 18 months. The 6-month/18-month overall retention rates (%) were 100/100 for XPB, 96.0/95.0 for CHX+XPB, 100/91.3 for XEN, and 100/95.8 for CHX+XEN with no statistical difference between any pair of groups at each recall. Sensitivity to air improved significantly for groups XPB, XEN, and CHX+XEN from pre-operative conditions to 1 week after insertion, to 6 and to 18 months after inserting. For group CHX+XPB, there was a statistically significant difference only between pre-operative conditions and 1 week after insertion. Marginal adaptation deteriorated for all groups, but no statistically significant differences were found. All other criteria remained statistically similar. The application of CHX prior to the dentin adhesive did not influence the 6-month/18-month clinical performance of the two adhesives.