Composite Cement Components Stabilize the Bond between a Lithium-Disilicate Glass-Ceramic and the Titanium Abutment

To evaluate the effect of composite cement components and thermocycling on the bond strength of monolithic lithium-disilicate (LS2) glass-ceramic implant-supported restorations bonded to titanium (Ti) abutments.

Eighty LS2 blocks were treated with five types of composite cement and primer, then divided accordingly into groups: M (Multilink hybrid abutment), G (G-CEM LinkAce), GP (G-CEM LinkAce with G-Multi PRIMER), P (Panavia F2.0), and U (RelyX U200). Half of the 16 specimens from each group were subjected to thermocycling (groups T-M, T-G, T-GP, T-P, and T-U). The tensile bond strength (TBS) of all specimens was measured using a pull-off test. The cross section of the LS2 block from which the Ti abutment was removed was examined for mode of failure. Two-way ANOVA and Tukey's HSD test (significance level = 0.05) were used to determine the effect of composite cement composition and thermocycling on TBS.

There was no difference in TBS between the five groups before thermocycling (p = 0.16). However, groups M (p < 0.001) and G (p = 0.014) showed significantly lower TBS than the corresponding thermocycled groups. Groups T-GP, T-P, and T-U did not show significant changes in TBS after thermocycling (p > 0.05). All failures occurred at the interface between the composite cement and Ti abutment and not between the cement and the LS2 block.

Thermocycling can reduce the bond strength between the composite cements and Ti abutment. The composite cements containing 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogen phosphate (10-MDP) or methacrylate phosphate ester monomers stabilize bonding.