The purpose of this study was to compare the temperature rise under normal and caries-affected primary tooth dentin during photopolymerization of two adhesives and resin-containing restorative materials. Caries-affected and normal dentin disks were prepared from extracted primary molars with only mesial or distal approximal caries (4 mm in diameter, 1 mm in height). Temperature rise during photopolymerization of adhesive materials was measured with a J-type thermocouple wire that was connected to a data logger. Data were analyzed with two-way ANOVA and independent samples t-test. Temperature rise under caries-affected primary tooth dentin disks was higher than that of normal primary tooth dentin disks during polymerization of both adhesive systems and resin-containing dental materials (p<0.05). It was found that adhesive systems induced a higher temperature rise during polymerization as compared to the resin-containing restorative materials (p<0.05). In particular, temperature rise during polymerization of adhesive materials exceeded 5.5°C under caries-affected primary tooth dentin.