A Comparative Study of Laser Irradiation Versus Sandblasting in Improving the Bond Strength of Titanium Abutments

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of Er,Cr:YSGG laser irradiation with different energy powers versus sandblasting for enhancing the tensile bond strength (TBS) between titanium implant abutments (IAs) and resin cements. Clinical decementation of prosthetic restorations often occurs, particularly on short IAs. Increasing the bonding area on the IA surface can enhance the function and longevity of the superstructure. Fifty dental IAs were used in solid form and randomly assigned to five groups (n = 10 each) for the following different pretreatments: control group was left untreated, a laser operating at 2.78 μm wavelength with different energy powers (1, 2, and 3 W) was used for three laser groups, and 50 μm alumina particles were applied to the abutment surface for the sandblasting group. Fifty metal substructures that had an occlusal metal O-ring were cast and cemented to all abutments using dual-cure resin cement. Test specimens were then subjected to thermal cycling. TBS tests were performed with a universal testing machine. The specimens' surface topography and roughness were evaluated with scanning electron microscope, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to measure the elemental profiles of each specimen. Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance/Kruskal-Wallis test at a significance level of p < 0.05. Surface treatments affected the surface roughness and TBS of the IA. The sandblasting group showed the highest bond strength values (510.77 ± 60.86 N) and followed by the 2 W group (279.07 ± 37.9 N). In EDS analysis, no elemental components other than titanium and oxygen were observed, except for in the sandblasting group. Sandblasting and 2 W laser treatment increased the surface roughness of the IA, which could contribute to the increased interfacial bond strength between the IA and resin cement.