Influence of Oxidation of Copper on Shear Bond Strength to an Acrylic Resin Using an Organic Sulfur Compound

The aim of this study was to clarify the influence of the copper surfaces changed from Cu or Cu2O to CuO on the bonding strength of resin with organic sulfur compounds. The disk-shaped specimens (n = 44) of copper were wet-ground. Half of the specimens were heated at 400 °C for 4 min in an electric furnace (HT: heated). Half of the specimens were not heated (UH: unheated). The specimens were further divided into two groups. Each group was primed by 6-methacryloyloxyhexyl 2-thiouracil-5-carboxylate (MTU-6) or unprimed (n = 11). A statistical analysis of the results of shear bond strength testing was performed, and the failure mode of the bonded areas was classified with an optical microscope. Two types of specimen surface (UH or HT) were analyzed chemically using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). When primed with MTU-6, unheated Cu (28.3 MPa) showed greater bond strength than heated (19.1 MPa). When unprimed, heated Cu (4.1 MPa) showed greater bond strength than unheated (2.3 MPa). The results of the debonded surfaces observation showed that only the UH-MTU-6 group demonstrated a combination of adhesive and cohesive failures in all specimens. The XPS results showed that the surface of copper changed from Cu or Cu2O to CuO when HT. These results confirmed that it is necessary to take care of the copper oxide contained in noble metal alloys when using organic sulfur compounds for adhesion

Application of one-piece endodontic crowns fabricated with CAD-CAM system to molars

Computer-aided design-computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) systems have been widely used as a fabrication method for restorations because of their high efficiency and accuracy, which significantly reduces fabrication time. However, molars with insufficient clearance or short clinical crown lengths require retention holes or grooves on the preparation, making it difficult to replicate the shapes with the CAM milling system. In these cases, restorations using the lost-wax method are selected. This article focuses on one-piece endodontic crowns (endocrowns) fabricated with a CAD-CAM system (CAD-CAM endocrowns), in which their posts and crowns are integrated. Articles from July 2012 to August 2023 were searched in PubMed with the keyword ''endocrown''. This review discusses the application of CAD-CAM endocrowns to molars from the viewpoint of model experiment (fracture resistance, adaptation) and clinical research. This technique, which allows margins and internal gaps to be set within the clinically acceptable range, is reported to be an effective way of restoring molars with high survival rates in clinical research