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Influence of manufacturing process method and surface treatment protocols on adhesion of lithium disilicate ceramics
Thamir do Amaral Sá1, Felipe Villela Martins2, Yutao Xing3
1MSc Member, Laboratory for Applied Biotechnology (LABA|UFF), School of Dentistry, Fluminense Federal University (UFF), Niterói, Brazil.
Statement Of Problem:
Despite the different processing methods, the same surface treatment is currently proposed for both injected and milled lithium disilicate ceramics. However, given the critical importance of adhesion for clinical success, whether this approach is truly optimal for each processing method, particularly in terms of the effect of surface airborne-particle abrasion, should be evaluated.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the combination of manufacturing process and surface treatment influences the microtensile bond strength of lithium disilicate ceramics (LDCs).
Material And Methods:
Ceramic blocks (14×12×8 mm) of IPS e.max CAD and IPS e.max Press (Ivoclar AG) were respectively allocated into the following groups: CAD, CAD-Al2O3, PRESS, and PRESS-Al2O3. CAD and PRESS groups followed the manufacturer's standard surface treatment of etching with 10% hydrofluoric acid and silane application. CAD-Al2O3 and PRESS- Al2O3 included an additional Al2O3 airborne-particle abrasion step before etching and silanization. After each surface treatment, the specimens were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The blocks were cemented in pairs and sectioned into 80 sticks (2×2×15 mm), 20 per group. All the specimens were subjected to the microtensile bond test in a universal testing machine. Data were analyzed with 2-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey post hoc test (α=.05).
Results:
CAD exhibited the highest mean values of strength (54.7 N) and stress (13.7 MPa), while PRESS recorded the lowest values (41.3 N and 10.3 MPa). Two-way ANOVA test revealed a statistically significant effect of the processing method on both variables (P<.05). However, additional airborne-particle abrasion had no statistical impact (P>.05). The post hoc Tukey test highlighted a statistical difference between groups CAD and PRESS, (P=.006), while the other comparisons were not statistically significant (P>.05).
Conclusions:
The results indicated that the processing method may have influenced the ceramic surface microstructure and affected the bonding performance.
