In vitro tensile strength of luting cements on metallic substrate.

The aim of this study was to determine the tensile strength of crowns cemented on metallic substrate with four different types of luting agents. Twenty human maxillary molars with similar diameters were selected and prepared to receive metallic core castings (Cu-Al). After cementation and preparation the cores were measured and the area of crown's portion was calculated. The teeth were divided into four groups based on the luting agent used to cement the crowns: zinc phosphate cement; glass ionomer cement; resin cement Rely X; and resin cement Panavia F. The teeth with the crowns cemented were subjected to thermocycling and later to the tensile strength test using universal testing machine with a load cell of 200 kgf and a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. The load required to dislodge the crowns was recorded and converted to MPa/mm(2). Data were subjected to Kruskal-Wallis analysis with a significance level of 1%. Panavia F showed significantly higher retention in core casts (3.067 MPa/mm(2)), when compared with the other cements. Rely X showed a mean retention value of 1.877 MPa/mm(2) and the zinc phosphate cement with 1.155 MPa/mm(2). Glass ionomer cement (0.884 MPa/mm(2)) exhibited the lowest tensile strength value. Crowns cemented with Panavia F on cast metallic posts and cores presented higher tensile strength. The glass ionomer cement showed the lowest tensile strength among all the cements studied.