[Surface morphology of alloys treated with the Rocatec system]

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Biomaterials Engineering
• Dental Materials

Background:

• The Rocatec-System is utilized to enhance resin-metal bonding in dental and prosthetic applications.
• It involves a tribochemical blasting procedure to create a silicate layer on alloy surfaces.
• A silane coupling agent facilitates resin bonding to this silicate layer.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the alterations in alloy surface morphology resulting from the Rocatec-System's tribochemical blasting procedures.
• To quantify the impact of blasting time and alloy composition on surface changes.

Main Methods:

• Tribochemical blasting using the Rocatec-System on various alloy surfaces.
• Surface morphology analysis to assess changes.
• Measurement of volume loss and observation of deformation.

Main Results:

• Volume loss on the alloy surface increases proportionally with the duration of the blasting procedure.
• High gold content alloys exhibit a greater degree of volume loss compared to other alloys.
• High blasting pressure leads to deformation of thin alloy edges.

Conclusions:

• The Rocatec-System significantly alters alloy surface morphology.
• Blasting parameters, particularly time and pressure, critically influence the extent of surface modification and potential structural integrity issues.
• Careful control of the Rocatec-System application is necessary, especially for high gold alloys and components with thin edges.