When to use phosphoric acid vs polyacrylic acid in etching?

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Can someone explain why sometimes it's better to use phosphoric acid and other times polyacrylic acid when etching? Thank you

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Can someone explain why sometimes it's better to use phosphoric acid and other times polyacrylic acid when etching? Thank you

It's been a long time since I was held responsible for this kind of chemistry judgements but here is my best guesses...
#1 The polyacrylic molecule is too big to come in close contact with the mineral component of the enamel and would therefore not be effective in "dissolving" out the non-organic portions of the enamel.
#2 Polyacrylic acid by its nature is more likely to bond itself to other chemicals then to "eat" other chemicals. So it makes for a bad etching solution.
 
I know that phosphoric acid is more commonly used, but I saw the polyacrylic acid used on occasion at the dentist I shadowed. Could it be used to etch composite or on top of a porcelain crown?
 
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i've only seen phosphoric acid used in etching (product called Uni-Etch... believe its 35%?) but who knows haha
 
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