Effect of Different Surface Treatment Protocols on the Bond Strength of CAD/CAM Resin Repairs with Composite Resin: An In Situ and In Vitro Study.
CAD/CAM. Shear bond strength. Surface treatment. Microbiology
Objective: To evaluate the effect of different surface treatment protocols and in situ aging on the repair bond strength between CAD/CAM resins and composite resin. Additionally, to analyze the influence of surface treatments on the surface characteristics of the restorative materials. Materials and Methods: A total of 492 blocks (6 × 5 × 2.5 mm) will be fabricated, with 164 specimens for each restorative material (Nanolab 3D/WILCOS, Smile Crown/BEGO, TetricCAD/IVOCLAR). Of these, 360 samples will be used for the shear bond strength test, while the remaining samples will be used for complementary analyses. For in situ aging, 60 samples of each material will be inserted into complete dentures in clinical use for 60 days. The 180 aged and 180 non-aged samples will be randomly divided into four groups (n = 15) according to the surface treatment protocol: (1) Control group: adhesive only (Tetric N-Bond); (2) Air abrasion with Al₂O₃ + adhesive; (3) Silicatization + silane + adhesive; (4) Diamond bur + adhesive. Composite resin cylinders (2.5 × 3 mm) will be built on the surface of each block. All 360 samples will undergo thermocycling (10,000 cycles between 5 °C and 55 °C). Shear bond strength will be tested using a universal testing machine (INSTRON 3365, USA) at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/min. After fracture, all samples will be examined under a stereomicroscope (Nikon SMZ800) to assess failure mode. Additional specimens will be prepared from each material for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) evaluation of surface treatments (n = 1) and surface roughness analysis using an optical profilometer (CCI MP, Taylor Hobson, UK) (n = 10). Data collected will be subjected to appropriate statistical analysis depending on the results of normality tests. If a normal distribution is observed, shear bond strength values will be analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc test (α = 0.05). Qualitative and descriptive analyses will be performed for the remaining tests.