RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The main purpose of this was to determine study adhesion strength of molar tubes bonding with a composite adhesive after exposure to a sudden change in temperature (thermal cycles). METHODS: The study sample consisted of 40 recently extracted human first permanent molars, which were randomly divided into two groups of 20: group 1 was the experimental group (affected by thermal cycles), and group 2 was the control group. Molar tubes were bonded with a light-cure tube adhesive. The experimental group teeth were dipped 2,000 times in saline at 5 °C and at 55 °C. The control group were immersed in 37 °C saline. Molar tubes for both groups were removed with an adapted Mecmesim Multitesters 2.5-I, and the data were recorded with EMPEROR software. ANOVA was used to calculate and compare the results. RESULTS: In the experimental group of the teeth, the maximum force was obtained at 94.2 N and the lowest force was 19.69 N. In the control group of the teeth, the maximum force was obtained at 159.1 N and the lowest force was 28.1 N. In the experimental group, the mean debonding force (59.12 N) was statically significantly smaller than in the control group (79.88 N), p = 0.0345. The forces in the control group were by 1.35 times greater than those in the experimental group. CONCLUSIONS: The forces of the adhesion of molar tubes to the tooth surface were reduced after exposure to a sudden change in temperature (thermal cycles). The results were significantly different between the experimental group and the control group.