Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different surface treatments on roughness, grain size, and phase transformation of presintered zirconia.
Materials and methods: Surface treatments included airborne particle abrasion (APA) before and after sintering with different particles shape, size, and pressure (50 μm Al2O3, 50 μm glass beads, and ceramic powder). Thirty-five square-shaped presin-tered yttrium-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) ceramic slabs (Zenostar ZR bridge, Wieland) were prepared (4 mm height × 10 mm width × 10 mm length) and polished with silicon carbide grit papers #800, 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000 to ensure identical initial roughness. Specimens were divided into five groups according to surface treatment: group I (control): no surface treatment; group II: APA 50 μm Al2O3 after sintering; group III: APA 50 μm Al2O3 particles before sintering; group IV: APA 50 μm glass bead particles before sintering; and group V: APA ceramic powder before sintering. Specimens were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, and tested for shear bond strength (SBS). Data were statistically analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by post hoc tests for multiple comparisons Tukey's test (a > 0.05).
Results: Air abrasion before sintering significantly increased the surface roughness when compared with groups I and III. The highest tetragonal to monoclinic (t-m) phase transformation (0.07%) was observed in group III, and a reverse transformation was observed in presintered groups (0.01%). Regarding bond strength, there was a significant difference between APA procedures pre- and postsintering.
Conclusion: Air abrasion before sintering is a valuable method for increasing surface roughness and SBS. The abrasive particles' size and type used before sintering had a little effect on phase transformation.
Clinical significance: Air abrasion before sintering could be supposed to be an alternative surface treatment method to air abrasion after sintering.
Keywords: Air abrasion; Bond strength; Grain size; Presintered zirconia Surface roughness..