Influence of Thermal Cycles Number on Bond Strength of Metallic Brackets to Ceramic

<div><p>Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different number of thermal cycles on the shear bond strength (SBS) of metallic orthodontic brackets bonded to feldspathic ceramic by a composite resin. Twenty-five ceramic cylinders were etched with 10% hydrofluoric acid for 60 s and received two layers of silane. Brackets were bonded to the cylinders using Transbond XT and assigned to 5 groups (n=5): Group 1 - Control group (without thermal cycling); Group 2 - 500 thermal cycles; Group 3 - 5,000 thermal cycles; Group 4 - 7,000 thermal cycles and Group 5 - 10,000 thermal cycles. Light-activation was carried out by Radii Plus LED. SBS testing was carried out after 24 h of storage in deionized water and thermal cycling (5/55 oC and 30 s dwell time). Five brackets were bonded to each cylinder, totalizing 25 brackets for each group. Data were submitted to one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s test (α=0.05). The Adhesive Remnant Index (ARI) was evaluated at 8× magnification. The SBS (MPa) of control group (9.3±0.8), 500 (9.0±0.7) and 5,000 (8.4±0.9) thermal cycles were significantly higher than those after 7,000 (6.8±0.6) and 10,000 (4.9±1.0) thermal cycles (p<0.05). The ARI showed a predominance of Scores 0 (adhesive failure) prevailed in all groups, as shown by the ARI, with increased scores 1 and 2 (mixed failures) for control group and 500 thermal cycles. In conclusion, thermal fatigue may compromise the bonding integration between metallic brackets and ceramic restorations. For in vitro testing, use of at least 7,000 cycles is advised to result in significant fatigue on the bonding interface.</p></div

The effect of hydrofluoric acid and resin cement formulation on the bond strength to lithium disilicate ceramic

<div><p>Abstract To investigate how the hydrofluoric acid (HF) concentrations applied to a lithium disilicate glass-ceramic (EMX) affects the surface morphology and microtensile bond strength (μTBS) of ceramics to dentin, using light-cured resin cements with or without UDMA. Sixty-three EMX square ceramic blocks were etched for 20 seconds using different HF concentrations (1%, 5% and 10%) and luted to dentin using two types of resin cement combinations: BisGMA/TEGDMA and BisGMA/TEGDMA/UDMA (n = 10). Each bonded EMX-dentin block was sectioned to obtain 1 mm2 sticks for μTBS evaluation. Half of the sticks were tested after 24 hours and the other half was assessed after 6 months of water storage. Data were statistically assessed using split-plot three-way ANOVA and multiple comparisons were performed using the Tukey's post hoc test (α = 0.05). One EMX sample from each HF concentration was analyzed using field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) to characterize the etching pattern. According to the FE-SEM images, increasing the concentration of HF from 1 to 5 and then to 10% led to increased removal of glassy matrix and greater exposure of lithium disilicate crystals. The 10% HF concentration yielded higher μTBS when compared to 1% for BisGMA/TEGDMA formulation (p < 0.05); whereas HF 1% and 5% showed similar μTBS values when compared to 10% HF for BisGMA/TEGDMA/UDMA resin matrix (p > 0.05) at both storage times. Water aging decreased the μTBS values (p < 0.05), except when 10% HF was associated with BisGMA/TEGDMA resin cement. Resin cement formulation and hydrofluoric acid concentrations can interfere with the immediate and long-term glass-ceramic bond strength to dentin.</p></div