A new adhesive technology for all-ceramics

Objectives. Evaluation of a new surface treatment method to obtain a good bond strength between a luting composite and several ceramics. Methods. Specimen preparation and test procedure were done according to ISO 10477 Amendment 1. The surfaces of Empress II, InCeram-Alumina, InCeram-Zirconia and Frialit (ZrO2) were ground under water-cooling with 400 grit grinding paper, afterwards polished with 800 grit and air-dried. Each ceramic material investigated was divided into three groups of 10 specimens each. Group 1 was flame-treated with the PyrosilPen for 2.5 s, group 2 for 5 s and group 3 for 10 s/cm2. After the flame treatment, a methacryl silane was applied followed by a luting composite. Prior to measuring shear bond strength, the specimens were thermocycled 5000 times in a water-bath between +5 and +55 °C. Furthermore, SEM- and Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometer (FT-IR)-investigations were done. As a control, Empress II etched and silaned was used. Results. Shear bond strength measurements indicated that the optimal treatment time was 5 s/cm2. Regarding this time the following bond strength values between the luting composite and the various ceramics were obtained: Empress II 23 (5) MPa, InCeram-Alumina 23 (5) MPa, InCeram-Zirconia 13 (8) MPa, and Frialit 16 (6) MPa. The control achieved 27 (6) MPa. On all surfaces of the flamed specimens Si could be detected by FT-IR. Significance. The PyrosilPen-Technology is an easy and effective method for surface-treating silicate, aluminum oxide and zirconium oxide ceramics to obtain good bonding to luting composites.