The primary objective of this study was to determine which single-shade composite surface yielded clinically acceptable shear bond strength (SBS) to metal orthodontics brackets. The secondary objectives were to identify the best composite surface treatment to enhance SBS and determine which surface treatment produced the least surface damage at debond.

Forty dental composite samples were selected from four different manufacturers (n=160) and grouped by manufacturer, one standard multi-shade dental system (FilTek™ Supreme Ultra) and three single-shade dental composites systems (OmniChroma®, SimpliShade™ and Venus® Diamond One). Each group of forty samples was randomly divided into four sub-groups (n=10). Each sub-group was identified by the surface treatment used, hydrofluoric acid (HFA), micro-etching (MIC), or phosphoric acid (PA). Shear bond strength testing and adhesive remnant index (ARI) were performed. Statistical analyses included Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon rank-sum, and two-factorial ANOVA.

OmniChroma® had statistically significant lower shear bond strength than the other composite materials tested. The control groups had statistically significant lower shear bond strength than Group 1/HFA (P<0.001) and Group 2/MIC (P<0.001). Group 1/HFA had the lowest distribution ARI score overall, while MIC had the highest ARI score distributions.

The results of this in-vitro study found that all tested composite materials achieved clinically acceptable shear bond strengths. The utilization of micro-etching produced higher SBS. Significant Adhesive Remnant Index scores (< 0.001) were only found for OmniChroma® without any surface preparation.