>IIRC ADO.NET maintains a connection pool and your new SqlConnection() will just grab (or release) an existing connection from the pool. I think there's a ClearPool method - check this:
> https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8xx3tyca(v=vs.110).aspx

This seems to work for others but it does not work for me.

Basically, I have added the clear pool line before my restore procedure:

' In order to restore, we need to clear the connection pool
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection.ClearAllPools()

oStatus.Text = lcRestoringDatabase + "..."

loRestore.Devices.AddDevice(cPath + "\" + cDatabase + ".bak", Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.DeviceType.File)
loRestore.Database = cDatabase
loRestore.Action = Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.RestoreActionType.Database
loRestore.ReplaceDatabase = True
loRestore.PercentCompleteNotification = 1
AddHandler loRestore.PercentComplete, AddressOf ProgressEventHandler2
loRestore.SqlRestore(loServer)

And, I still cannot get exclusive use of the database.