Effect of etching and sandblasting on bond strength to sintered porcelain of unfilled resin.

This study determined the bond strength of an unfilled resin joined to a feldspathic porcelain for the purpose of evaluating the retentive performance of the prepared material surfaces. Porcelain disks (VMK 68 dentin) were either air abraded with alumina (AAA) or etched with one of the following five etchants: (1) ammonium hydrogen bifluoride (AHB); (2) acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF); (3) hydrofluoric acid (HFA); (4) phosphoric acid (PHA); and (5) sulfuric acid-hydrofluoric acid (SHF). Specimens ground with abrasive paper were also used as controls. After surface preparation, the two different sized porcelain disks were bonded together with a methyl methacrylate-based resin initiated with tri-n-butylborane (MMA-TBB resin). Shear bond strengths were determined both before and after thermocycling. Before the thermocycling, the greatest bond strengths (21.3 and 23.7 MPa) were generated with the use of the SHF and HFA agents, followed by the AHB agent (18.4 MPa). Reduction in bond strength after thermocycling was significant for all groups, although the SHF- and HFA-treated groups exhibited bond strengths greater than 15 MPa even after the thermocycling. The results indicated the effectiveness of the SHF- or HFA-etching for retaining the acrylic resin to the porcelain. However, ageing testing also revealed insufficient retentive characteristics of the acrylic resin by etching alone.