To evaluate the tensile and microtensile bond strength of five single-bottle adhesives to dentine, extracted human molar teeth were used. For each tooth dentine was exposed on the occlusal surface by cutting with an isomet saw and the remaining part was mounted in a plastic ring using dental stone. The tested adhesive materials were: Scotchbond 1, Syntac SC, One-Step, Prime & Bond 2.1 and Clearfil SE Bond. The adhesive was applied to either 1 mm(2) of dentine or a circular area with a diameter of 3.9 mm. Composite resin Clearfil AP-X was placed to the adhesives using a Teflon split mould 3.9 mm in diameter and 2.5 mm in height. Tensile and microtensile bond strengths were measured using a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm min(-1). Under tensile mode, the bond strengths were 16.7 +/- 3.5, 15.2 +/- 2.5, 11.5 +/- 3.2, 13.7 +/- 2.6, 20.9 +/- 4.2 MPa for each material. Under microtensile mode, the bond strengths were 52.5 +/- 9.5, 55.3 +/- 8.3, 40.5 +/- 5.2, 37.5 +/- 8.7, 60 +/- 6.21 MPa. Fracture pattern of bonded specimens showed 66% cohesive dentine failure in samples tested for tensile bond strength. For the microtensile test, failures were mainly adhesive at the interface between adhesive and dentine (94%).