To Evaluate and Compare the Effect of Various Surface Treatment Modalities on Shear Bond Strength of Composite to Polyetherketoneketone and SEM Analysis: An In vitro Study

It is a challenge to bond resin materials with polyetherketoneketone (PEKK). To increase the bond strength, surface treatments using chemical adhesion, mechanical adhesion, or a combination of both can be used.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate and compare the shear bond strength of PEKK to the composite resin after various surface treatments and to evaluate the fracture mode analyses.

One hundred and twenty PEKK specimens were randomly divided into four groups (n = 30) after three different surface treatments (95% sulfuric acid etching, airborne abrasion with 110 μm aluminum-oxide, and 99% acetone). With the help of polytetrafluorethylene tube, resin composite (3M ESPE) was bonded on all the specimens, thermocycled, and subjected to shear bond strength testing. Thereafter, 15 samples from each group were assessed for fracture mode analyses using a scanning electron microscope.

Mean, Standard deviation, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) f-test, post hoc Tukey's test.

Statistical analysis using one-way ANOVA f-test revealed that the results were significant with a P < 0.05 with the maximum value obtained in the case of air abraded group and the minimum value obtained in the case of the untreated group. Adhesive failure mode was the most common among the air-abraded group.

The mechanical surface treatment group (air abrasion) showed higher shear bond strength than the chemical surface treatment groups (sulfuric acid and acetone). The mixed-type fracture mode was most commonly noted in the air-abraded group.