Spark erosion as a metal-resin bonding system

Area of Science:

• Dental Materials Science
• Biomaterials Engineering
• Surface Science

Background:

• Achieving durable resin-to-metal bonds is critical for the longevity of dental restorations like crowns and bridges.
• Evaluating novel surface treatment methods is essential for improving the mechanical integrity of dental prosthetics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the resin-to-metal bond strength of two commercial and one experimental bonding system for dental composites.
• To compare the effectiveness of Rocatec (RO), Silano-Pen (SP), and spark-erosion (SE) surface treatments on various alloys.

Main Methods:

• Specimens of high precious alloy (HPA), Co/Cr-alloy (Co/Cr), and titanium (Ti) were prepared and treated with RO, SP, or SE systems.
• Shear bond strength (SBS) was measured after 24-hour water storage and after 5000 thermocycles (TC).
• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze treated metal surfaces.

Main Results:

• Spark-erosion (SE) yielded significantly higher SBS on titanium (Ti) compared to Rocatec (RO).
• Silano-Pen (SP) showed the highest SBS on Co/Cr alloy.
• SE demonstrated the highest mean bond values across all tested metals, even without sandblasting.

Conclusions:

• The experimental spark-erosion (SE) system offers an effective and user-friendly method for surface treatment of alloys.
• SE enhances shear bond strength (SBS) for crown and bridge veneer composites, proving advantageous over conventional methods.