Manufacturers of mild self-etch adhesives advocate the adjunctive use of phosphoric acid etching when bonding to unground enamel. This study tested the null hypothesis that there is no difference between the recently introduced, more aggressive self-etch adhesives and a total-etch adhesive in bonding to unground enamel. The ultrastructure and microtensile bond strengths (μTBS) of Xeno III (Dentsply) and Simplicity (Apex Dental Materials), bonded to unground enamel, were examined after thermocycling. Clearfil SE Bond (Kuraray), a mild self-etch adhesive, was used as the negative control, and One-Step (BISCO), a total-etch adhesive bonded to phosphoric acid-etched unground enamel, was used as the positive control. Differences in the thickness of enamel hybrid layers were observed and the aggressiveness of apatite dissolution in the four adhesives.

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