This research investigated the effects of wet and dry conditions of phosphoric acid etched dentin on resin bonding and determined the optimum moisture condition for resin bonding using an ethanol-based one-bottle adhesive system. Bovine dentin surfaces were etched with 35% phosphoric acid and rinsed with water. Under four wet and dry conditions (overwet, blot dry, one-second dry and desiccated), resin composite was bonded using Single Bond. Tensile bond strength was measured and the results analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Fisher's PLSD test at the 5% level. The resin-dentin interfaces of bonded specimens were observed with SEM. The bond strength of overwet, blot dry, one-second dry and desiccated groups were 5.2 MPa, 12.6 MPa, 11.9 MPa and 4.4 Mpa, respectively. The blot dry group and one-second dry groups revealed significantly higher bond strengths than the desiccated and overwet groups (p < 0.05). The formation of hybrid layers approximately 5 microm thick (overwet and blot dry), 2 microm (one-second dry) and 3 microm (desiccated) were observed. The coefficient of variation in the blot dry group was very high, even though a higher mean was observed. In the one-second dry group, the moisture content of the collagen network was possibly too low, such that hybrid layer formation was not as good even though the bond strength was high.