The Effect of Different Chemical Surface Treatments on the Bond Strength of Resin-Matrix Ceramic Repaired with Resin Composite.

Objective:  This study investigates the effect of different chemical surface treatment protocols with different functional monomers of universal adhesives on the shear bond strength between resin-matrix ceramic and resin composite.

Materials and methods:  Eighty resin-matrix ceramics (Shofu block HC) were built and designed into eight groups of ten specimens and surface treated with HC primer (HC) and/or three universal adhesives (single bond universal [SBU], Scotchbond universal plus [SBP], and Tetric N-bond universal [TNU]) assigning follows; group 1, nonsurface treated; group 2, HC; group 3, SBU; group 4, HC + SBU; group 5, SBP; group 6, HC + SBP; group 7, TNU; group 8, HC + TNU. A template was put on the specimen center, and then pushed packable resin composite. Mechanical testing machinery was used to examine the samples' shear bond strength (SBS) values. To examine failure patterns, the debonded specimen surfaces were examined by a stereomicroscope.

Statistical analysis:  The one-way analysis of variance method was used to evaluate the data, and the Tukey's test was used to determine the significant level (p < 0.05).

Results:  The highest SBS was obtained in group 6 (39.25 ± 1.65 MPa). Group 1 (4.15 ± 0.54 MPa) had the lowest SBS. Group 6 exhibited the highest percentage of cohesive failure patterns (70%). High SBS values were frequently correlated with the surface treatment groups and the cohesive failure patterns.

Conclusion:  The application of HC primer prior to the universal adhesive is an alternative protocol for enhancing the repair bond strength between resin-matrix ceramic and resin composite interfaces. Moreover, the application of HC primer prior to the SBP is the best strategy for resin-matrix ceramic and resin composite repairs.