Influence of surface conditioning on bonding to polyetheretherketon (PEEK)

The purpose of the study was the evaluation of the bond strength of a provisional resin to a polyetheretherketon (PEEK) using different surface treatments and conditioning methods.

PEEK disks were polished with 600grit rotating silicon carbide papers. Plexiglas tubes were filled and bonded with a provisional resin (Luxatemp Fluorescence) to the PEEK disks which were air-abraded either with 110μm alumina particles (Rocatec Pre) and conditioned with the primers Ecusit Composite Repair, Luxatemp Glaze & Bond or Clearfil Ceramic Primer or they were tribochemically silica-coated (Rocatec Plus) and silanated with Espe Sil or Clearfil Ceramic Primer. Air-abraded PEEK disks without priming served as control. Subgroups of 8 specimens each were stored in distilled water at 37°C either for 3 days without thermal cycling (TC) or for 150 days with additional 37,500 thermal cycles between 5 and 55°C (dwell time 30s). Following storage tensile bond strength (TBS) was tested at a crosshead speed of 2mm/min in a universal testing machine. Statistical analysis was conducted with Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Wilcoxon rank sum test adjusted by Bonferroni-Holm.

After 3 days TBS ranged from 0 to 15.0MPa. After artificial aging over 150 days TBS ranged from 0 to 12.9MPa. Using air-abrasion and priming with Luxatemp Glaze & Bond resulted in significantly higher TBS than all other methods, which was also durable over time.

The use of the methylmethacrylate containing primer Luxatemp Glaze & Bond after air-abrasion of PEEK surfaces can be recommended clinically as promising bonding method to PEEK.