Influence of grinding, sandblasting, polishing and heat treatment on the flexural strength of a glass-infiltrated alumina-reinforced dental ceramic

The influence of processing-introduced flaws and heat treatment on the strength degradation of the dental core material has recently been observed. However, there are insufficient studies which investigate the role of grinding, grinding orientation, sandblasting, polishing and heat treatment on the strength of In-Ceram Alumina (IA), one of the most used glass-infiltrated alumina-reinforced dental core ceramics. To address these issues, the uniaxial flexural strength and reliability of eight groups of specimens (sandblasted, ground parallel to the tensile axis, ground perpendicular, and polished with and without heat treatment) were assessed. Statistical analyses indicate that heat treatment significantly improved the flexural strength of the material regardless of the surface treatment. Conversely, any surface treatment caused strength degradation, if it was not followed by heat treatment. Sandblasting caused the most marked strength degradation. Polishing alone (without heat treatment) did not strengthen the ceramic. The orientation of grinding in respect of the direction of the tensile stresses did not influence the ultimate tensile strength. The present study suggests that, in the case of IA, sandblasting, grinding and polishing should always be followed by heat treatment in order to avoid strength degradation of the material.