Effect of tribochemical treatments and silane reactivity on resin bonding to zirconia

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the roughness, structure and bond strength with zirconia of four grit-blasting treatments combined with three silane types, the reactivity of which was evaluated, as well. Methods: The grit-blasted treatments performed on zirconia (Lava) were alumina (ALU), CoJet (COJ), SilJet (SLJ) and SilJet Plus (SJP, with silica-encapsulated silane). The other two silanes selected were the S-Bond (SB, prehydrolyzed) and Clearfil Ceramic Primer Plus (CP, prehydrolyzed with 10-MDP). The activity of the silanols in the silanes was evaluated by FTIR spectroscopy. Optical profilometry and Raman microspectroscopy were used for the assessment of roughness (Sa, Sz, Sdr parameters) and structure (monoclinic volume-Vm) of zirconia, before (REF) and after grit-blasting, and a shear bond strength (SBS) with a flowable resin composite, for the investigation of the bonding capacity of the treatments. Results: Only SB demonstrated reactive silanols. CP and the SJP silanes were mostly in a polymerized siloxane state. Roughness was increased after grit-blasting as follows: ALU > SLJ,SJP > COJ > REF (Sa,Sz) and ALU > SLJ,COJ,SJP > REF (Sdr). ALU demonstrated the highest Vm (7.52%) from all other treatments (4.16–4.81%) and the REF (0%). COJ and SLJ showed the highest SBS (14–15.94 MPa) regardless of the silane type used. SJP showed no significant differences from SLJ-SB and COJ-SB. Weibull analysis showed a reliability (β) ranking of COJ, SJP, SLJ, ALU-CP > ALU-SB > REF and a characteristic life (η) ranking of COJ, SLJ, ≥SLJ-SB, SJP, ALU ≥ ALU-SB,REF-CP > REF-SB. Significance: The reactivity of the silanes used showed great variations to support a predictable effect in all treatments. CP with deactivated silanols demonstrated a) the most reliable and strongest treatment with a silica-rich powder (COJ), despite the lowest Sa,Sz substrate values and b) high strength with a low-silica powder (SLJ) with higher Sa,Sz substrate values. Therefore, it may be concluded that 10-MDP greatly contributes to the bonding mechanism of the silane containing primers. © 2017 The Academy of Dental Material