Interfacial Fracture Toughness Comparison of Three Indirect Resin Composites to Dentin and Polyether Ether Ketone Polymer

Objectives Advances in laboratory composites and their high wear resistance and fracture toughness have resulted in their growing popularity and increasing use for dental restorations. This study sought to assess the fracture toughness of three indirect composites bonded to dental substrate and polyether ether ketone (PEEK) polymer. Materials and Methods This in vitro study was conducted on two groups of dental and polymer substrates. Each substrate was bonded to three indirect composite resins. Sixty blocks (3 × 3 × 12 mm) were made of sound bovine anterior teeth and PEEK polymer. Sixty blocks (3 × 3 × 12 mm) were fabricated of CRIOS (Coltene, Germany), high impact polymer composite (HIPC; Bredent, Germany), and GRADIA (Indirect; GC, Japan) composite resins. Composites were bonded to dentin using Panavia F 2.0 (Kuraray, Japan). For bonding to PEEK, Combo.lign (Bredent) and Visio.Link (Bredent) luting cements were used. In all samples, a single-edge notch was created by a no. 11 surgical blade at the interface. The samples were subjected to 3,500 thermal cycles, and their fracture toughness was measured in a universal testing machine (Zwick/Roell, Germany) by application of four-point flexural load. Statistical Analysis Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance, Kruskal–Wallis. Results The fracture toughness of CRIOS–PEEK interface was significantly higher than HIPC–PEEK. The fracture toughness of GRADIA–PEEK was not significantly different from that of HIPC and CRIOS. The fracture toughness of GRADIA–dentin was significantly higher than HIPC–dentin. Conclusion Considering the limitations of this study, GRADIA has the highest bond strength to dentin, while CRIOS shows the highest bond strength to PEEK.