Effects of surface treatments on bond strength of dental Ti–20Cr and Ti–10Zr alloys to porcelain

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of surface treatments, including sandblasting and grinding, on the bond strength between a low-fusing porcelain and c.p. Ti, Ti–20Cr and Ti–10Zr alloys. The surface treatments were divided into 2 groups. Grinding surface treatment was applied to the first group, which served as the control, and sandblasting was applied to the second group. After treatment, low-fusing porcelain (Titankeramik) was fired onto the surface of the specimens. A universal testing machine was used to perform a 3-point bending test. The metal–ceramic interfaces were subjected to scanning electron microscopic analysis. Of the sandblasted samples, the debonding test showed that Ti–20Cr alloy had the strongest (31.50 MPa) titanium–ceramic bond ( p < 005), followed by c.p. Ti (29.4 MPa) and Ti–10Zr (24.3 MPa). Of the grinded samples, Ti–20Cr alloy showed 27.3 MPa titanium–ceramic bond ( p < 005), followed by c.p. Ti (14.3 MPa) and Ti–10Zr (failure). The SEM micrographs of the metal surface after debonding showed residual porcelain retained on all samples. On the whole, sandblasting surface treatment appears to have had a more beneficial effect on the Ti–ceramic bond strength than grinding surface treatment. Furthermore, surface treatment of Ti–20Cr with either grinding or sandblasting resulted in adequate bond strength, which exceeded the lower limit value in the ISO 9693 standard (25 MPa).