Influence of Alumina Air-Abrasion on Flexural and Shear Bond Strengths of CAD/CAM Composite

The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of alumina air-abrasion on flexural and bond strengths of CAD/CAM composites. The flexural strength (FS) of two brands of commercial CAD/CAM composites was investigated by the three-point bending test using two specimen designs: the single-bar according to the ISO standard and the bonded-double-bar fabricated by bonding two bars with a resin cement. The bond strength between the composites and the resin cement was measured by a conventional shear bond strength (SBS) test. The FS of single-bar specimens was significantly decreased by the air-abrasion. For the FS of the bonded-double-bar specimen, on the other hand, there was no significant difference between the specimens with/without air-abrasion. The SBS for the composites was significantly increased by air-abrasion. The results suggest that alumina air-abrasion improves the SBS of the composites while weakening its FS. Contrarily, the FS of the air-abraded composite did not decrease when the composites were bonded with the resin cement.