Effect of Firing Cycle and Etching Protocols on Tensile Bond Strength of Composite Cement to Zirconium-incorporated Lithium-Silicate Glass Ceramic

Purpose: To evaluate whether the composite cement tensile bond strength is affected by different firing cycles or etching conditions on zirconium-incorporated lithium-silicate glass ceramics.
Materials and Methods: Specimens (N=53) were prepared from blocks of zirconium-incorporated lithium-silicate glass ceramic (ZLS, Dentsply Sirona) with specimen dimensions of 12.5 x 14 x 2 mm (L x W x H, respectively). The specimens were subjected to different firing cycles and etching conditions. They were subsequently cemented onto titanium rods (grade V Ti-alloy, 4.8 mm in diameter, and 25.4 mm in length) with self-adhesive composite cement (TheraCem, Bisco), and then tested for tensile bond strength (TBS). The least-square means linear regression model was used to analyze the effects on TBS using JMP Pro 14 (SAS) and the post-hoc Tukey test with α = 0.05.
Results: The TBS was significantly affected by etching duration (p < 0.001) and firing cycles (p < 0.001), but was not significantly affected by etchant concentration (p = 0.31). The highest TBS peak (4.83 MPa) on the fit curve was observed at 45 s of etching time. The lowest TBS was observed at 20 s (3.02 ± 0.28 MPa) etching time. In terms of firing cycles, 1 firing cycle (4.00 ± 0.71 MPa) provided the highest TBS. In contrast, the lowest TBS was observed for as-machined ZLS specimens but without a firing step (3.29 ± 0.53 MPa).
Conclusions: Changing the etching time and firing conditions of the specimens had a significant effect on the composite cement tensile bond strength to zirconium-incorporated lithium-silicate glass ceramic. In contrast, etching the specimens with different acid concentrations, 5% or 9.6% of HF, did not significantly change the composite cement tensile bond strength.