This study examined the effects of using two different burs for dentin surface preparation on the microtensile bond strength (microTBS) of three resin luting cements. Flat, deep dentin surfaces from 45 extracted human third molars were divided into three groups (n = 15) according to bur type: (i) diamond bur and (ii) tungsten carbide bur. The controls were abraded with #600-grit SiC paper. Both burs operated in a high-speed handpiece under water-cooling. Composite blocks were luted onto the dentin using one of three cements: RelyX ARC (ARC, 3M ESPE), Panavia F2.0 (PF, Kuraray) and RelyX Unicem (UN, 3M ESPE) following the manufacturers' instructions. For ARC, the dentin surface was treated with 32% phosphoric acid. The bonded specimens were stored at 37 degrees C for 24 hours and sectioned into 0.9 x 0.9 mm beams for microTBS testing. The data were analyzed using the two-way ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls tests. Representative fractured beams from each group were prepared for fractographic analysis under SEM. Two-way ANOVA revealed that the effects of "dentin surface preparation" and "luting cement" were statistically significant (p < 0.001); however, the interaction of these two factors was not significant (p > 0.05). ARC showed no significant difference in microTBS among the three differently prepared dentin surfaces. The microTBS of PF and UN was significantly lower when bonding to dentin prepared with a diamond bur (p < 0.05), compared to the control. For Panavia F2.0, higher bond strengths were achieved on the dentin surface prepared with a tungsten carbide bur. Proper bur selection is essential to optimizing the dentin adhesion of self-etch resin luting cements.