Effect of supporting substrate on the failure behavior of a polymer-infiltrated ceramic network material.

Statement Of Problem: Restorative materials are cemented on different types of substrates, such as dentin, metal, and glass-fiber posts with composite resin cores.

Purpose: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the failure behavior after cycling fatigue of a polymer-infiltrated ceramic network material (PICN; VITA ENAMIC) cemented on different supporting substrates.

Material And Methods: PICN plates (N=80) were obtained from computer-assisted design and computer-assisted manufacturing (CAD-CAM) blocks and cemented with a resin cement to 4 different supporting substrates (n=20): (1) human dentin (PICNDen); (2) dentin analog (PICNDenAn); (3) nickel-chromium alloy (PICNNiCr); and (4) composite resin plus fiberglass post (PICNRc). For comparison, the fracture behavior of a feldspathic ceramic (FelDenAn; VITABLOCS Mark II) and an indirect composite resin (ResDenAn; Opallis LAB Resin) cemented to the DenAn substrate was investigated (n=20). Thus, specimens were composed of the restorative material layer (1-mm thick) resin cemented (0.1-mm-thick layer) to a 2-mm-thick supporting substrate. All specimens were subjected to mechanical cycling (MC) using a pneumatic cycling machine (500 000 cycles, 2 Hz, 50 N). Specimens that did not fracture during cycling were tested under compression using a universal testing machine at a cross-head speed of 0.5 mm/min until the sound of the first crack was detected using an acoustic system. Failure data were statistically evaluated using Weibull distribution. Failures were classified as radial crack, cone crack, combined, and catastrophic fracture.

Results: All FelDenAn specimens were fractured during MC. Only 4 PICNRc specimens survived MC, so their fracture load data were not statistically analyzed. PICNNiCr showed the greatest characteristic load (L) value, followed by ResDenAn. Groups PICNDenAn and PICNDen showed lower and similar L but statistically different Weibull modulus (m). There was a significant relationship between experimental group and failure mode (P<.001). FelDenAn and PICNRc had a higher frequency of radial cracks, whereas PICNNiCr failed from cone cracking.

Conclusions: The supporting substrate influenced the failure behavior of PICN. When the substrate had a higher elastic modulus than the restorative material, better mechanical behavior was observed.