Experimental investigation of adhesion strength of dental ceramic to Ti6Al4V alloy fabricated by milling and selective laser melting

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to investigate the bond strength of dental ceramic to Ti6Al4V alloy fabricated by milling and selective laser melting (SLM). The adhesion strength is studied by 3-point flexural test of samples with porcelain coating. Two groups of specimens are manufactured by milling and SLM. Four different surface treatments are used before porcelain application - no surface treatment (control), sandblasting and application of bonding agent on untreated and sandblasted surfaces. The coating of leucite-reinforced glass-ceramic is manufactured on the one side of the samples. It is found that the adhesion strength of the porcelain coating to the titanium alloy produced by both methods has close values: 17.63 – 30.89 MPa for the milled and 22.12 – 31.04 MPa for the SLM alloy. The surface treatments of the metal substrate have different effect on the adhesion strength. Sandblasting and combined treatment increase the adhesion strength of the porcelain to the milled samples, but decrease that in the SLM ones. The application of the given bonding agent decreases the adhesion strength of the ceramic to the Ti6Al4V alloy produced by both technologies. In the milled alloy, the highest adhesion strength is in the sandblasted samples, followed by these with combined treatment, while for the SLM samples, the adhesion strength in the control group is the highest, followed by the sandblasted samples. Milled samples treated with the given bonding agent, and SLM specimens with combined surface treatment do not meet the required 25 MPa of the standard.