Bond Strength of Resin Cements Fixing Fiber Posts to Human and Bovine Teeth of Different Ages

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of human and bovine root dentin age on the bond strength of fiber posts fixed with resin cements. The degree of conversion (DC) of the resin cements in different root thirds also was evaluated. Materials and Methods: Ninety-six single-rooted teeth were divided into groups according to the origin and age: young human (20-30 years), old human (over 60 years), young bovine (24-36 months) and adult bovine (over 48 months). The teeth were endodontically treated, and fiber posts were cemented with resin cements (RelyX Ultimate and RelyX U200). After 24 h, the teeth were sectioned perpendicularly and the push-out test was performed in a universal testing machine at a speed of 0.5 mm/min, until failure. One specimen from each third from each group (n = 6) was selected, and the DC of the resin cements was analyzed by FT-Raman spectroscopy. Results: For both resin cements, the young human root dentin group presented the highest bond strengths and the old human root dentin group presented the lowest (p < 0.05). The bond strengths of bovine root dentin groups were not affected by aging (p > 0.05). For the DC of resin cements, there were differences among the root thirds (p < 0.05), with the lowest values observed in the apical third. Conclusions: The bond strengths were higher in the young human root canal than in the bovine substrate, with a negative effect of aging in the human substrate. The DC of dual-curing resin cements decreased from the coronal to apical root thirds.