Effect of Surface Treatments of Polyetherketoneketone as a Post Material on Shear Bond Strength to Root Dentin using...

This study investigated the effects of mechanical and chemical pretreatment of polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) on shear bond strength (SBS) to root dentin using two types of resin cement.

A total of 100 PEKK specimens were prepared and polished. Sixty specimens were mechanically treated by sandblasting (50-µm Al2O3 for 10 s at 0.2-0.25 MPa), and the remaining 40 were untreated. Self-adhesive resin cement and conventional resin cement were used. PEKK specimens bonded to root dentin using self-adhesive resin cement were classified into three groups by pretreatment method: (1) untreated PEKK, (2) mechanical pretreatment (sandblasted PEKK), and (3) both mechanical and chemical pretreatment (PEKK sandblasting as well as application of Scotchbond Universal; 3M Oral Care). Conventional resin cement was pretreated following the same steps (1-3) as those followed for self-adhesive specimens. Each group included 10 specimens. PEKK specimens after surface treatments were examined using SEM. SBS tests were performed using a universal testing machine, and data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's multiple comparison test (p < 0.05).

No significant difference was observed between cements with and without sandblasting. However, self-adhesive specimens with both mechanical and chemical pretreatments demonstrated higher SBS than other cements with or without pretreatment.

Mechanical pretreatment by sandblasting did not improve the PEKK-root dentin SBS. However, combined mechanical (sandblasting) and chemical pretreatment (ScotchBond Universal) significantly improved the SBS between the PEKK and root dentin.