Atmospheric plasma treatment: an alternative of HF etching in lithium disilicate glass-ceramic cementation

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether the atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) could modify the surface of lithium disilicate glass ceramics (LDC) instead of hydrofluoric acid (HF) in LDC resin cementation.Methods: Two hundred and thirty-two LDC blocks were randomly divided into seven groups: Group 1 (16 specimens) was the blank control group (without HF or APPJ treatment); Group 2 (36 specimens) was etched by HF; Groups 3–7 (36 specimens each) were treated with APPJ, and the relative air humidity (RAH) of the discharge was 22.8%, 43.6%, 59.4%, 75.2%, and 94.0%, respectively. Three LDC blocks in each group were characterized via X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, 3 blocks via contact angle measurements, and other 10 blocks via surface roughness measurements. The residual LDC blocks in groups 2–7 were cemented to composite cylinders. Testing the cemented specimens’ shear bond strength (SBS) before and after thermocycling (6,500 cycles of 5°C and 55°C) revealed fracture patterns. Data were analyzed by ANOVA (post hoc: Bonferroni) (α = 0.05).Results: After APPJ treatment, the water contact angle values of APPJ treated blocks dropped from 31.37° to 5.66°, while that of HF etched ones dropped to 18.33°. The O/C ratio increased after HF etching or APPJ treatment according to the calculated results, except for the APPJ-treated samples at a RAH of 22.8%. The surface roughness of LDC blocks showed no statistic difference before and after APPJ treatment, but experienced significant difference after HF etching. The O/Si and O/C ratios varied after HF etching or APPJ treatment. No significant difference in SBS values could be found among groups 2–7 before or after artificial aging (p > 0.05). All specimens showed mixed failure patterns.Conclusion: The APPJ treatment method reported in this study is a promising novel strategy for surface modification of the LDC. With acceptable bonding strength, it might be an alternative to HF in LDC-resin cementation.

Evaluation of zirconia surfaces and shear bond strength after acid–etching with ultrasonic vibration

“…It has been demonstrated that etching is faster at the particle border, but it may also happen inside the particles. Furthermore, it has been revealed that HF acid induces the formation of etching pits over time, thus raising the microroughness [25].…”

Bonding Pretreatment of Aesthetic Dental CAD-CAM Materials through Surface Etching with a Mixed Aqueous Solution of Ammonium Fluoride and Ammonium Hydrogen Sulfate

“…Extensive research has been conducted to improve the surface treatment methods for these materials. Techniques such as plasma irradiation [ 18 , 19 ], sandblasting [ 20 , 21 ], tribochemical coating [ 22 , 23 ], laser abrasion [ 24 , 25 ], and chemical etching [ 26 , 27 ] have been examined for their ability to modify material surfaces for better bonding with luting agents. Among these methods, chemical etching with hydrofluoric acid (HF) is notable for its efficiency in etching silica-containing materials [ 17 , 28 ] such as lithium disilicate glass, feldspathic porcelain, polymer-infiltrated ceramic networks, and resin composites.…”