Effect of surface treatments and universal adhesive application on the microshear bond strength of CAD/CAM materials

The aim of this study was to evaluate the microshear bond strength (µSBS) of four computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) blocks repaired with composite resin using three different surface treatment protocols.

Four different CAD/CAM blocks were used in this study: (1) flexible hybrid ceramic (FHC), (2) resin nanoceramic (RNC), (c) polymer infiltrated ceramic network (PICN) and (4) feldspar ceramic (FC). All groups were further divided into four subgroups according to surface treatment: control, hydrofluoric acid etching (HF), air-borne particle abrasion with aluminum oxide (AlO), and tribochemical silica coating (TSC). After surface treatments, silane was applied to half of the specimens. Then, a silane-containing universal adhesive was applied, and specimens were repaired with a composite, Next, μSBS test was performed. Additional specimens were examined with a contact profilometer and scanning electron microscopy. The data were analyzed with ANOVA and Tukey tests.

The findings revealed that silane application yielded higher µSBS values (P<.05). All surface treatments were showed a significant increase in µSBS values compared to the control (P<.05). For FHC and RNC, the most influential treatments were AlO and TSC (P<.05).

Surface treatment is mandatory when the silane is not preferred, but the best bond strength values were obtained with the combination of surface treatment and silane application. HF provides improved bond strength when the ceramic content of material increases, whereas AlO and TSC gives improved bond strength when the composite content of material increases.