A Novel Combined Silica-Coating and Etching Protocol for Titanium for Improved Adhesion

Abstract

Durable adhesion between resin composite cement and Ti prostheses is critical for a long clinical life. A rough surface is a prerequisite for mechanical interlocking and silica-coating followed by silanation for chemical adhesion. Commercially pure grade-2 Ti specimens were modi ed by silica-coating and silanized with an experimental silane blend or two commercially available silane primers. Specimens were assigned randomly: Group-A (control; polished only Ti), Group-B (polished Ti + silica-coating + primers), Group-C (polished Ti + etching with HNO 3 + with or without primers), Group-D (polished Ti + silica-coating + etching with HNO 3 + with or without primers), Group-E (polished Ti + etching with HCl+H 3 PO 4 + with or without primers), Group F (polished Ti + silicacoating + etching with HCl+H 3 PO 4 + with or without primers). Next Ti specimens were analyzed for their atomic concentration by electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDX). BisCem™ resin cement was used to build up enclosed mold stubs onto the Ti specimens. Micro-shear bond strength (EM-µSBS) was measured after storage in distilled water for 1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks and 8 weeks. A combined treatment employing silica-coating + HCl+H 3 PO 4 had a more substantial effect on Ti surface roughness when compared to other surface pretreatments. Whereas, the highest EM-µSBS values were observed in Group-D from week 1 to week 8. A novel combined dual surface modi cation creates higher surface roughness on Ti, and this might signi cantly improve the durability of resin-Ti adhesion.