Objectives: To evaluate the effect of different glass-ceramic surface treatments and aging on the fatigue failure load of a lithium disilicate glass-ceramic adhesively cemented to a dentin analogue material.
Methods: One hundred and twenty (120) disc-shaped lithium disilicate specimens (Ø=10mm, thickness=1.5mm) were produced and randomly allocated (n=20) into 6 groups, considering 2 study factors: "surface treatment" in 3 levels (SIL-silane application only; HF5+SIL-5% hydrofluoric acid etching and silane application; ME&P-etching with an one-step ceramic primer), and "storage" in 2 levels (baseline-storage for 7 days; aging-storage for 90 days+12,000 thermal cycles). Ceramic discs were adhesively cemented to discs of a dentin analogue material (Ø=10mm, thickness=2.0mm) following the manufacturers' instructions. The fatigue failure load was determined by the staircase approach (250,000 cycles; 20Hz; initial load=1050N [∼70% of mean load-to-failure]; step size=52.5N [5% of initial load]). Micro-morphologic, fractographic, and atomic force microscope analysis were also performed. Fatigue failure load data were evaluated by one-way ANOVA, Bonferroni and t-tests for independent samples.
Results: HF5+SIL presented higher fatigue failure load in both conditions (baseline and aging); ME&P presented intermediary mean values, while the SIL group presented the worst performance. All groups had a statistically significant decrease in the fatigue performance after aging.
Significance: Hydrofluoric acid followed by silane application showed the best fatigue performance for an adhesively-cemented lithium disilicate ceramic. Aging negatively influenced the fatigue performance for all tested groups.
Keywords: CAD/CAM restorations; Fatigue test; Glass ceramic; Mechanical behavior; Monolithic restorations; Topographical changes.
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