Evaluation of the Bond Strengths between Dental Porcelain and Cobalt-Chromium Metal Frameworks Manufactured with Different Techniques after the Thermal Aging Process

PURPOSE: The present study is aimed at examining the bond strength of cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) metal frameworks, prepared through different techniques, to a single type of low-temperature porcelain system after the thermal aging process. METHODS: A hundred and twenty Co-Cr alloy framework specimens were prepared using conventional casting, CAD/CAM, and two commercially different laser sintering devices, and dental porcelain was applied to the specimens. A single type of dental porcelain (Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc., Tokyo, Japan) was applied to the specimens. After the subgroups were determined, half of the specimens were subjected to a thermal aging process. Bond strength of specimens was evaluated using a 3-point bending test. The surfaces of the fractured specimens were evaluated using a stereomicroscope. The metal-porcelain bonding area of samples randomly selected from 8 groups has been examined with SEM under ×1000 magnifications. Normality distribution of obtained data was examined using by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The obtained data of the present study was statistically analyzed with a statistical package program (SPSS for Windows 22.0, Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between CAD/CAM and the other three methods, and the bonding value of the CAD/CAM group was the highest among the groups. Besides, the bond strength between dental porcelain and 4 differently produced metal frameworks was high enough to surpass the acceptable threshold (>25 MPa) according to the ISO 9693. There was no statistically significant difference between thermal aging applied and nonapplied groups. CONCLUSIONS: Based on this study, it could be shown that the metal-ceramic bond strength is dependent on the manufacturing method used, but it is independent of the thermal aging application. It was found that the bond strength values of all samples with and without thermal aging application exceeded the minimum acceptable value of 25 MPa recommended by the ISO 9693.