ABSTRACT
Background: In-office bleaching is one of the most commonly used procedures for discolored tooth treatment. Although the efficacy of tooth bleaching has been investigated, depending on the applied technique and the used materials, bleaching procedures might irritate the tooth pulp and induce surface changes in enamel. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of four different bleaching techniques on the penetration of hydrogen peroxide (HP) into the pulp chamber. Materials and methods: Seventy-two single-rooted sound human teeth were used. The samples were prepared and evaluated in four groups. Group 1: 35% HP gel alone (HP Gel); group 2: Nd:YAG laser (0.25 W and 10 Hz with a fiber tip size of 200 µm) irradiation was added (HP Gel+laser); group 3: HP gel mixed with graphite particles (10th of millimeter in size) derived from crashed pencil lead in association with Nd:YAG laser (HP Gel+laser+graphite); and group 4: HP gel in association with light-emitting diode (LED) (litex 686, 50 Hz, 450-490 nm) (HP Gel+LED). The amount of HP penetrating into the pulp chamber was evaluated using acetate buffer and standard graphs. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA test, using SPSS 17. Post hoc Tukey test was used for between-group comparisons (α = 0.05). Results: Statistical analyses showed that the HP Gel+laser+graphite group had significantly higher level of HP penetration than other groups (p < 0.001). Moreover, pulp chamber penetration of HP in the HP Gel+laser group was greater than the LED and control groups (p < 0.001). The difference between control and LED groups was not significant (p = 0.99). Conclusions: Laser bleaching associated with HP Gel and graphite particles resulted in increased penetration of HP into the pulp chamber compared with the LED and control groups.
ABSTRACT
Background. Due to the fragile nature of all-ceramic restorations, it is necessary to provide an appropriate (core) infrastructure to support the veneering porcelain. The veneer detachment and chipping are disadvantages of these restorations. Several techniques have been proposed to minimize these problems. This study evaluated the effect of thermal and mechanical cycles on the shear bond strength of zirconia core to porcelain veneer under different surface treatments. Methods. Sixty disk-like zirconium samples were randomly divided into three groups. The first group was polished and veneered with porcelain, without additional surface treatments. The two other groups were subjected to different surface treatments (modified aluminum oxide by silica and activatorâaluminum oxide and primer) and veneering with porcelain. Half of the samples in each group were subjected to 6000 thermal cycles and 20,000 masticatory cycles of 50 N to imitate the intraoral conditions; the other half were placed in distilled water at 37°C until the shear strength test. Each sample was then buried using PMMA in a mounting jig so that the gap between the core and the veneer could be placed upward. Then, they were exposed to shear stress using a universal testing machine at a rate of 1 mm/min until fracture. The maximum force leading to the fracture was recorded. Results. Comparison of the groups showed that the highest shear bond strength was related to the samples treated with aluminum oxide and primer, without applying thermal and masticatory cycles, which indicated no significant difference from the group treated with aluminum oxide and primer, with thermal and masticatory cycles. The lowest shear bond strengths were related to the polished samples without surface treatment by applying thermal and masticatory cycles (P=0.001), which indicated no significant difference from the untreated group without thermal and masticatory cycles. Conclusion. Based on the results, treatment with aluminum oxide and primer increased the shear bond strength of zirconia core to porcelain veneer. Thermocycling and masticatory cycles failed to reduce the shear bond strength in all the three groups significantly.
