Investigation of microleakage at the interface between a Co-Cr based alloy and four polymeric veneering materials

Retention strength between veneering resin composites and laser-sintered cobalt-chromium alloy

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the retention strength between a resin composite veneering material and three types of cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) alloy substrates. Co-Cr alloy specimens with 81 retention devices (LSR), with 144 retention devices (LDR), and without retention device (LN) were fabricated using a laser-sintering system. The specimens were air-abraded with alumina, conditioned with a primer [Alloy primer (AP) or M.L. primer (ML)], and veneered with a light-polymerized resin composite (Gradia). Three control groups (LSR-N, LDR-N, and LN-N) without primer were also prepared. After 20,000 thermocycles in 4 and 60 °C water, tensile retention strengths were determined using a universal testing machine. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance and a post hoc Tukey-Kramer HSD test (α = 0.05, n = 8). The highest retention strengths were obtained in LSR-AP (28.3 MPa), LSR-ML (23.3 MPa), LDR-AP (26.9 MPa), and LDR-ML (27.8 MPa), and these values were not significantly different. In the absence of a retention device, the retention strengths were significantly different in the following order: LN-N (0.1 MPa) < LN-ML (12.4 MPa) < LN-AP (20.2 MPa). The specimens without primer were significantly different in the following order: LN-N (0.1 MPa) < LSR-N (15.4 MPa), LDR-N (17.1 MPa). No significant difference was found between the numbers of retention devices, which were 81 and 144. In conclusion, the combined use of the primers and the retention devices is recommended when the laser-sintered Co-Cr alloy is veneered with the resin composite materials to maximize the retention strength.

Comparative study between laser sintering and casting for retention of resin composite veneers to cobalt-chromium alloy

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the bond strengths between resin composite veneer and laser-sintered cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) alloy with and without retention devices (Laser-R and Laser-N respectively). Cast Co-Cr alloy with and without retention devices (Cast-R and Cast-N respectively) were also prepared for fabrication technique comparison. Disk-shaped Co-Cr alloy specimens were air-abraded with alumina and veneered with a veneering system, Estenia C&B (ES) or Ceramage (CE). After 20,000 thermocycles, tensile testing was performed. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and multiple comparison test. When no retention devices were present, no significant differences were observed between Laser-N/ES and Cast-N/ES, or between Laser- N/CE and Cast-N/CE, but ES exhibited significantly higher bond strength than CE. With retention devices, Laser-R/ES, Cast- R/ES and Laser-R/CE showed no significant differences, and their retention strengths were significantly higher than that of Cast- R/CE. Compared to cast Co-Cr alloy, laser-sintered Co-Cr alloy with retention devices provided better retention durability for resin composite-veneered prostheses.

Quality assessment of dental treatments using en-face optical coherence tomography

The present study evaluates the potential of en-face optical coherence tomography (OCT) as a possible noninvasive high resolution method for supplying necessary information on the material defects of dental prostheses and microleakage at prosthetic interfaces. Teeth are also imaged after several treatment methods to asses material defects and microleakage at the tooth-filling interface, and the presence or absence of apical microleakage, as well as to evaluate the quality of bracket bonding on dental hard tissue. C-scan and B-scan OCT images as well as confocal images are acquired from a large range of samples. Gaps between the dental interfaces and material defects are clearly exposed.