Microhardness of resin cements after light activation through various translucencies of monolithic zirconia

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the Vickers Hardness Number (VHN) of light- and dual cured resin cements cured through monolithic zirconia specimens (VITA YZ) of various translucencies: translucent (T); high translucent (HT); super translucent (ST); and extra translucent (XT) at 0, 24, and 48 h after curing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four zirconia specimens from each translucency were prepared. Two light-cured resin cements (Variolink N LC; VL and RelyX Veneer; RL) and two dual-cured resin cements (Variolink N DC; VD and RelyX U200; RD) were used. The cement was mixed and loaded in a mold and cured for 20 s through the zirconia specimen. The upper surface of cements was tested for VHN using a microhardness tester at 0, 24, and 48 h after curing. The VHN were analyzed using two-way repeated, Brown-Forsythe ANOVA with Games Howell post-hoc analysis and independent t-tests (P < .05). RESULTS: All cements showed significantly higher VHN from 0 h to 24 h (P < .001). At 48 h, the VHN of light-cured cements were significantly lower when cured under the T groups than under XT groups (P = .001 in VL, P = .014 in RL). At each post curing time of each translucency, VD showed higher VHN than VL (P < .05), and RD also showed higher VHN than RL (P < .05). CONCLUSION: The translucency of zirconia has an effect on the VHN for light-cured resin cements, but has no effect on dual-cured resin cements. Dual-cured resin cement exhibited higher VHN than the light-cured resin cement from the same manufacturer. All resin cements showed significantly higher VHN from 0 h to 24 h.