Effect of resin cement selection on the microtensile bond strength of adhesively veneered 3Y-TZP

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of resin cement selection on the microtensile bond strength (μTBS) of adhesively veneered 3Y-TZP.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

3Y-TZP discs were fabricated from commercial powders and treated by sandblasting and zirconia primer. Porcelain discs were sectioned from a feldspathic block and conditioned with 5% HF and silane agent. Pre-treated surfaces of zirconia and porcelain discs were bonded together using one of the three following resin cements: Multilink N (MN), Panavia F (PA) or RelyX Unicem (RU), respectively. After light-curing the joined discs were cut into microbars where 15 microbars per group were randomly chosen for μTBS test until failure occurred (24 h storage in water in advance, crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min). The data were analysed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (p < 0.05). Fractured zirconia surfaces were examined using both a stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscope to identify the failure mode.

RESULTS

Significant differences in the μTBS values among three groups were found (p < 0.001) and the descending order was PA, RU and MN. No zirconia or feldspathic failure occurred, but the zirconia/cement interfaces suffered from fracture for all samples. Cement cohesive failure and/or feldspathic/cement interfacial failure sometimes were involved. Failures were mainly adhesive for RU, while they were mixed for MN and PA.

CONCLUSION

When using the adhesive veneering method, Panavia F offers better bond strength than Multilink N or RelyX Unicem, which is probably due to the content of the 10-methacryloyloxydecyl dihydrogenphosphate (10-MDP) monomer.

Contact fatigue response of porcelain-veneered alumina model systems

Fatigue damage modes and reliability of hand-veneered (HV) and over-pressed (OP) aluminum-oxide layer structures were compared. Influence of luting cement thickness on mechanical performance was investigated. Sixty-four aluminum-oxide plates (10 × 10 × 0.5 mm) were veneered with hand built-up or pressed porcelain (0.7 mm) and adhesively luted (50- or 150-μm cement thickness) to water-aged composite resin blocks (12 × 12 × 4 mm). Single-load-to-failure and fatigue tests were performed with a spherical tungsten carbide indenter (d = 6.25 mm) applied in the center of the veneer layer. Specimens were inspected with polarized-reflected-light and scanning electron microscopy. Use-level probability Weibull curves were plotted with two-sided 90% confidence bounds, and reliability at 75,000 cycles and 250 N load was calculated. For all specimens but two OP with 50-μm cement thickness, failure was characterized by flexural radial cracks initiating at the bottom surface of the alumina core and propagating into the veneering porcelain before cone cracks could extend to the porcelain/alumina interface. HV specimens showed higher reliability compared to OP. Those with 50-μm cement thickness were more reliable relative to their 150-μm counterparts (HV_50 μm: 95% (0.99/0.67); HV_150 μm: 55% (0.92/0.01); OP_50 μm: 69% (0.84/0.48); OP_150 μm: 15% (0.53/0.004)). Similar failure modes were observed in HV and OP specimens. Radial cracks developing in the core and spreading into the veneer are suggested to cause bulk fracture, which is the characteristic failure mode for alumina core crowns. However, the highest resistance to fatigue loading was found for the HV specimens with thin cement thickness, while the lowest occurred for the OP with thick cement layer.

Graded structures for all-ceramic restorations

One failure mode of all-ceramic restorations is radial cracking at the cementation surface, from occlusally induced flexure of the stiffer ceramic layer(s) on the softer dentin underlayer. We hypothesize that such failure may be substantially mitigated by an appropriate grading of elastic modulus through the ceramic thickness. In this study, we fabricated graded structures by infiltrating glass into zirconia plates, with resulting diminished modulus in the outer surfaces. The plates were then bonded to a polymeric base and subjected to flexure by contact loading until fracture. Comparison of infiltrated specimens with non-infiltrated controls showed a significant increase in the fracture loads, by a factor of nearly 2. Finite element analysis revealed the cause of increase in the load-bearing capacity to be diminished tensile stresses within the lower-modulus graded zone, corresponding to an increase in material strength. The results confirmed that suitably graded structures can be highly beneficial in the design of next-generation all-ceramic restorations.