Effectiveness of different surface treatments on bond strength between 3D-printed teeth and denture base

Purpose: To investigate the effects of different surface treatments and thermal cycling on the shear bond strength between 3D-printed teeth and denture bases.

Material and methods: For the shear bond strength (SBS) test, the specimens were the maxillary central incisors (11 × 9 × 7 mm) bonded on a cylindrical base (20 × 25 mm). The control group was heat-cured polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) (N = 20). The printed group was divided into five subgroups (N = 20): no treatment, sandblasting with aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), methyl methacrylate monomer, acetone, and adhesive with urethane dimethacrylate. Half of the samples were subjected to 2000 thermal cycling cycles, and all samples were subjected to the SBS test. The failure mode was established as adhesive, cohesive, or mixed through stereomicroscopic analysis. The surface roughness test (Sa) was performed using optical profilometry, and the rectangular specimens (14 × 14 × 2.5 mm) were divided into four groups according to the surface treatments (N = 7 per group). Paired T and Wilcoxon tests were conducted to perform comparisons within the same group. The Kruskal-Wallis and Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner post-hoc tests were conducted to compare the groups.

Results: Al₂O₃ sandblasting in the 3D-printed groups achieved high SBS values comparable to those of the control group in the thermal cycled (p = 0.962) and non-thermal cycled samples (p = 0.319). It was the only treatment capable of modifying the surface of the 3D-printed resin, thereby increasing the roughness (p = 0.016).

Conclusions: Sandblasting is recommended to increase the bond strength between the tooth and denture bases.