This study examined the relationship between the adhesive application time and enamel bond strength of several single-step self-etch adhesive systems. The adhesives used were: Bond Force (BF, Tokuyama Dental Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), Clearfil tri-S Bond (CT, Kuraray Medical Inc, Tokyo, Japan), iBond Self-Etch (IB, Heraeus Kulzer, Armonk, NY) and OptiBond All-in-One (OB, sds Kerr). Bovine mandibular incisors were mounted in self-curing resin and wet ground with #600-grit silicon carbide paper to expose labial enamel. Adhesives were applied for 10, 20 or 40 seconds and the resin composites were condensed into a mold (phi4 x 2 mm) on the enamel and light irradiated. Ten samples per test group were stored in 37 degrees C water for 24 hours, then shear tested at a crosshead speed of 1.0 mm/minute. One-way ANOVA and the Tukey HSD test (alpha = 0.05) were performed within each adhesive system. The enamel surfaces after adhesive application were also observed in a Field Emission Electron Probe Surface Roughness Analyzer and the Ra value was calculated. The enamel bond strength ranged from 13.6 to 17.8 MPa for BF, 13.6 to 15.9 MPa for CT, 14.3 to 16.2 MPa for IB and 13.4 to 19.8 MPa for OB. Significant increases in bond strength were found for the 40-second application groups, except for IB. No changes in Ra value were found for BF and IB, while significant decreases in Ra value were recorded with 40-second application for CT and OB. The data suggested that the duration of the single-step self-etch adhesive application was a crucial factor for determining the enamel bond strengths of some of the single-step self-etch adhesives employed in the current study.