ABSTRACT
Aim: To evaluate the effect of different surface treatments and adhesive approaches on the microshear bond strength of resin cement to a polymer-infiltrated ceramic network (PICN). Methods: PICN blocks were randomly assigned into 9 groups (n=10): CTRL: no treatment; HF: 5% hydrofluoric acid etching; HF-S: HF + silane; HF-S-A: HF-S + adhesive (Adper Single Bond 2); HF-UA: HF + universal adhesive (Single Bond Universal); SB: sandblasting with 50 µm Al2O3 particles; SB-S: SB + silane; SB-S-A: SB-S + adhesive; SB-UA: SB + universal adhesive. Resin cement microcylinders (Ø = 0.96 mm; height = 1 mm) (RelyX Ultimate) were built upon the PICN surface after roughness and contact angle measurements. Next, microshear bonding tests (µSBS) were performed (0.5 mm/min) after water storage (37ºC, 90 days) and thermocycling (12,000 cycles; 5ºC-55ºC). Failure modes were observed under stereomicroscope. Bond strength data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA/Tukey's test and t-tests. Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn's tests were conducted for roughness and contact angle data (α = 0.05). Results: A rougher surface and lower contact angles were observed for Sandblasting. HF-S (18.54 ± 2.03 MPa), SB-S (19.00 ± 1.66 MPa) and SB-UA (18.07 ± 2.36 MPa) provided the highest bond strength values, followed by the other treated groups. The CTRL group resulted in lower bond strength (7.18 ± 2.34 MPa). Conclusion: Hydrofluoric acid etching followed by silane application and sandblasting followed by silane or universal adhesive are useful clinical steps to enhance bonding to PICN. Adhesive applications after HF etching have no advantages in bonding to PICN