The salivary contamination occurring at the try-in procedures of lithium disilicate (LDS) can jeopardize their bond strength. Various laboratory reports have concluded that applying 37% phosphoric acid (H3PO4) could be considered as a predictable way of removing salivary contaminants. An experimental method that consists of sealing the intaglio of the ceramic restorations with a layer of cured adhesive could allow consequent time saving for dental practitioners. It is, besides, necessary to establish an optimal decontamination protocol. Hence, this study aimed to determine the most efficient surface treatment, before and after salivary contamination, by comparing the adhesion between resin and LDS. In order to do so, five groups of ten specimens (n = 10) each underwent the different types of surface treatments before bonding, followed by 2500 cycles in the thermocycler. A shear bond strength (SBS) test was then conducted on a universal testing machine (YLE GmbH Waldstraße Bad König, Germany), followed by a fracture-type analysis on an optical microscope (Olympus BX53, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan). Statistical analysis was set with a level of significance of α = 0.05. The surface treatment significantly affected the SBS results. The decontamination with HF (12.59 ± 2.71 MPa) and H3PO4 (13.11 ± 1.03 MPa) obtained the highest values, silanizing only before contamination obtained intermediate values (11.74 ± 3.49 MPa), and silanizing both before and after the salivary contamination (10.41 ± 2.75 MPa) along with applying a bonding agent before contamination (9.65 ± 1.99 MPa) resulted in the lowest values. In conclusion, H3PO4 proved to be efficient, thus, allowing the practitioner to avoid the clinical use of HF; it can, therefore, be considered as a valid alternative. Presilanization and resilanization of specimens, along with applying a bonding agent before contamination, did not yield satisfying results.
Keywords: decontamination; lithium disilicate; resin; saliva; shear bond strength.