Assessment of different surface treatments and shear bond characteristics of poly-ether-ether-ketone: An in vitro SEM analysis

AIM: The aim of this study is to assess the surface roughness and shear bond characteristics of pol-ether-ether-ketone after different surface treatments. SETTING AND DESIGN: An in vitro, prospective. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty disc-shaped samples of 10 mm diameter and 2 mm thickness were milled and subjected to following surface treatments: 110 μm alumina particles, 98% concentrated sulfuric acid, and 10–20 μm synthetic diamond particles. Surface characteristics of treated sample were studied under SEM with ×500 and ×1000 magnification. Shear bond strength (SBS) with composite resin discs embedded in acrylic blocks after luting with self-etch resin cement and resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) was evaluated using the universal testing machine (Instron®, Massachusetts U. S. A). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The data collected were evaluated using the Analysis of variance and Tukey's honest significant difference post hoc test. RESULTS: Highest SBS and SR were noted with self-etch resin cement in the given order: 98% sulfuric acid (2.106 ± 0.186 μm), followed by alumina particles (1.706 ± 0.160 μm) and synthetic diamond particles (1.101 ± 0.167 μm). CONCLUSION: The SBS of self-etch resin cement was higher compared to RMGIC for all three surface treatments done on test samples. Hundred percent samples treated by all three surface treatment methods showed mixed type of failure.