The effect of saliva contamination on the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets, at various stages of the bonding procedure using a new self-etch primer was studied. The samples were divided into 4 groups according to 4 different enamel surface conditions: Group A: dry; Group B: saliva contamination before priming; Group C: saliva contamination after priming, and Group D: saliva contamination before and after priming. Stainless steel brackets were bonded in each test group with a light-cured composite resin (TransbondXT 3M). The shear bond strength was determined in the first 30 min after bonding. The analysis of variance indicated that the shear bond strengths of the 4 groups were significantly different (F= 11.89, P＜0.05). Tukey HSD tests indicated that contamination both before and after the application of the acid-etch primer resulted in a significantly lower (=4.6± 1.7 MPa) shear bond strength than either the control group (= 8.8±1.9 MPa) or the groups where contamination occurred either before ( = 7.9± 2.0 MPa) or after (=6.9±1.5 MPa) the application of the primer. It was concluded that the new acid-etch primer could maintain adequate shear bond strength if contamination occurred either before or after the application of the primer. On the other hand, contamination both before and after the application of the primer could significantly reduce the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets.