Single component adhesives for the most part use very similar chemistries to multiple bottle systems. They use one of three carriers designed to displace water and draw the adhesive into the dentin.
-Acetone
-Water
-Ethanol*
Research (including work done at Clinical Research Associates) has shown that acetone (carrier in both AllBond 2 and OneStep from Bisco as well as Prime&Bond by Caulk) left on the tooth surface due to the required application of multiple coats without adequate volatization can cause a sensitivity among a broad base of patients.
Of course this was something that KERR had known all along and that is why the primer mechanism in Optibond has ALWAYS been Ethanol and HEMA. It is particularly gratifying to note that one of our major direct competitors has just released a densensitizing agent consisting primarily of HEMA! This left us with the choice of staying with our proven ethanol based primer or to follow up on some initially promising results that had been achieved using water as the carrier. As you can see from the following chart, that was a very easy choice indeed.
This study verifies the results that we had achieved at our own dental materials center and validates it as a site for adhesive research. Even more impressive is the protection that Optibond SOLO gives against microleakage. A sampling of 8 specemins for each adhesive tested resulted in ALL 8 SOLO samples showing NO MICROLEAKAGE into either enamel or dentin structure.
Another problem that is iniherent in any single bottle bond is that of evaporation. Due to the extreme volatility of the primer mechanism and the speed at which it evaporates, you have never been totally certain that the material you have at the bottom of the bottle is the same material that you started with. That is until now! Each Optibond SOLO Unidose capsule contains a minimum of 1/10 ml. of material. You cannot be certain of the amount coming out of a bottle and it is extremely difficult to gauge exactly how much material is being dispensed.
We believe that you should always have a choice and we do not believe that you should be penalized for choosing a superior alternative in terms of aesepsis, clinical performance and value for your dollar.
As you can see from the chart below, Optibond SOLO requires the fewest steps and the least amount of application time of any single component adhesive based on manufacturers instructions.
Not only does Optibond SOLO take less time to apply, but it also has less steps as well. Because of the fact that we use ethanol, we are able to avoid two major complications that currently plague the competitive systems.
-multiple applications (acetone based systems refer to a "shiny" surface)
-air drying to evaporate the multiple coats of acetone
SOLO's unique chemistry uses ethanol as a basis, and therefore needs less application time and NO AIR DRY STEP after application. This saves time, of course, but also serves a more important purpose: less chance for overblowing or overdrying the surface prior to light curing. Simply put, SOLO is the simplest bonding agent to use!
Optibond SOLO also happens to be the most economical single component adhesive on the market as well. We can also calculate your cost PRECISELY per application. Can you with your current adhesive???
