Ageing assessment of zirconia implant prostheses by three different quantitative assessment techniques

PURPOSE: To evaluate the influence of cyclic loading on phase transformation of zirconia abutments and to compare the effectiveness of three different quantitative ageing assessment techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty two Y-TZP prostheses fabricated from two brands, InCoris ZI and Ceramill ZI, were cemented to titanium bases and equally divided into two subgroups (n=8): control group without any treatment and aged group with cyclic loading between 20 N and 98 N for 100,000 cycles at 4 Hz in distilled water at 37℃. The tetragonal-to-monoclinic phase transformation was assessed by (i) conventional x-ray diffraction (XRD), (ii) micro x-ray diffraction (µXRD), and (iii) micro-Raman spectroscopy. The monoclinic-phase fractions (M%) were compared by two-way ANOVA. RESULTS: InCoris Zi presented significantly higher M% than Ceramill Zi in both control and aged groups (P<.001). Both materials exhibited significant phase transformation with monoclinicphase of 1 to 3% more in aged groups than controls for all thre e assessment techniques. The comparable M% was quantified by both µXRD and XRD. The highest M% was assessed with micro-Raman. CONCLUSION: Cyclic loading produced significant phase transformation in tested Y-TZP prostheses. The micro-Raman spectroscopy could be used as an alternative to XRD and µXRD.

Microtensile bond strength of repaired indirect resin composite

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of surface treatments on microtensile bond strengths (MTBSs) of two types of indirect resin composites bonded to a conventional direct resin composite. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Indirect resin composite blocks of Ceramage and SR Nexco were prepared in a plastic mold having a dimension of 10 × 10 × 4 mm. These composite blocks were divided into three groups according to their surface treatments: Group1: Sandblast (SB); Group2: Sandblast and ultrasonically clean (SB+UL); Group3: Sandblast plus silane (SB+SI). After bonding with direct resin composite, indirect-direct resin composite blocks were kept in distilled water for 24 hours at 37℃ and cut into microbars with the dimension of 1 × 1 × 8 mm. Microbar specimens (n = 40 per group) were loaded using a universal testing machine. Failure modes and compositions were evaluated by SEM. The statistical analyses of MTBS were performed by two-way ANOVA and Dunnett's test at α = .05. RESULTS: Surface treatments and brands had effects on the MTBS without an interaction between these two factors. For SR Nexco, the MTBSs of SB and SB+SI group were significantly higher than that of SB+UL. For Ceramage, the MTBSs of SB and SB+SI were significantly higher than that of SB+UL. The mean MTBS of the Ceramage specimens was significantly higher than that of SR Nexco for all surface treatments. CONCLUSION: Sandblasting with or without silane application could improve the bond strengths of repaired indirect resin composites to a conventional direct resin composite.

Comparison of two fracture toughness testing methods using a glass-infiltrated and a zirconia dental ceramic

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to compare the fracture toughness (KIc) obtained from the single edge V-notched beam (SEVNB) and the fractographic analysis (FTA) of a glass-infiltrated and a zirconia ceramic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For each material, ten bar-shaped specimens were prepared for the SEVNB method (3 mm x 4 mm x 25 mm) and the FTA method (2 mm x 4 mm x 25 mm). The starter V-notch was prepared as the fracture initiating flaw for the SEVNB method. A Vickers indentation load of 49 N was used to create a controlled surface flaw on each FTA specimen. All specimens were loaded to fracture using a universal testing machine at a crosshead speed of 0.5-1 mm/min. The independent-samples t-test was used for the statistical analysis of the KIc values at alpha=0.05. RESULTS: The mean KIc of zirconia ceramic obtained from SEVNB method (5.4 +/- 1.6 MPa.m1/2) was comparable to that obtained from FTA method (6.3 +/- 1.6 MPa.m1/2). The mean KIc of glass-infiltrated ceramic obtained from SEVNB method (4.1 +/- 0.6 MPa.m1/2) was significantly lower than that obtained from FTA method (5.1 +/- 0.7 MPa.m1/2). CONCLUSION: The mean KIc of the glass-infiltrated and zirconia ceramics obtained from the SEVNB method were lower than those obtained from FTA method even they were not significantly different for the zirconia material. The differences in the KIc values could be a result of the differences in the characteristics of fracture initiating flaws of these two methods.

Effect of the shades of background substructures on the overall color of zirconia-based all-ceramic crowns

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the color of a background substructure on the overall color of a zirconia-based all-ceramic crown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty one posterior zirconia crowns were made for twenty subjects. Seven premolar crowns and six molar crowns were cemented onto abutments with metal post and core in the first and second group. In the third group, eight molar crowns were cemented onto abutments with a prefabricated post and composite core build-up. The color measurements of all-ceramic crowns were made before try-in, before and after cementation. A repeated measure ANOVA was used for a statistical analysis of a color change of all-ceramic crowns at alpha=.05. Twenty four zirconia specimens, with different core thicknesses (0.4-1 mm) were also prepared to obtain the contrast ratio of zirconia materials after veneering. RESULTS: L*, a*, and b* values of all-ceramic crowns cemented either on a metal cast post and core or on a prefabricated post did not show significant changes (P>.05). However, the slight color changes of zirconia crowns were detected and represented by DeltaE*ab values, ranging from 1.2 to 3.1. The contrast ratios of zirconia specimens were 0.92-0.95 after veneering. CONCLUSION: No significant differences were observed between the L*, a*, and b* values of zirconia crowns cemented either on a metal cast post and core or a prefabricated post and composite core. However, the color of a background substructure could affect the overall color of posterior zirconia restorations with clinically recommended core thickness according to DeltaE*ab values.