Grinding the intaglio surface of yttria partially- and fully-stabilized zirconia polycrystals restorations: Effect on their fatigue behavior

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of diamond bur grinding the intaglio surface of second (yttria partially-stabilized zirconia polycrystals, PSZ) and third-generation zirconia (fully-stabilized zirconia polycrystals, FSZ) adhesively cemented to dentin analogue substrate on the fatigue failure load, cycle number until failure, surface micromorphology and phase transformation. Disc-shaped specimens were produced from second (Katana ML-HT, Kuraray) and third-generation zirconia (Katana STML, Kuraray) and randomly allocated (n = 15) into two groups according to the intaglio surface treatment: Control – Ctrl (without grinding); Grinding – Gr (grinding at the center of the intaglio surface). The ceramic discs were adhesively cemented (Multilink Automix System) onto dentin analogue discs. Fatigue tests were executed by the step-stress method. The obtained data were analyzed by Kaplan Meier and Mantel-Cox tests. In addition, surface topography, roughness, phase transformation and fractography analyses were performed. SEM analysis showed that grinding increased the surface roughness and introduced defects in zirconia from both generations. Grinding increased the fatigue failure load, number of cycles to failure and survival rates of the second-generation zirconia statistically (control: 1373.33 N < grinding: 1600 N), while these same outcomes were reduced by grinding for the third-generation zirconia significantly (control: 766.67 N > grinding: 620 N). Thus, clinical adjustments with diamond burs damage the fatigue behavior of adhesively cemented third-generation zirconia.