Effect of Sandblasting Surface Treatment on the Bond Strength and Surface Roughness Between the 3D-Printed Denture Base and Silicon-Based Soft Liner.

Abstract

This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of surface treatment through sandblasting on the bond strength between the 3D-printed denture base and silicon-based lining material. Material and Methods: Twenty dumbbell-shaped specimens were fabricated from 3D-printed denture base material, the specimens were divided into two equal groups: group I (control group): (n=10) The specimens relined without surface treatment and group II (experimental group): (n=10) The specimens were surface treated with 125 µm Al2O3 airborne-particle abrasion before relining with silicon-based soft liner. After relining, the tensile bond strength for the specimens was measured using a universal testing machine, and the debonded surfaces were examined visually to evaluate the mode of failure. Surface roughness was measured and surface topography was observed by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), the scanned area measured 10*10 µm with a number of data points 256*256, a scanning rate of 1 Hz. Results: The effect of surface treatment on the bond strength between the 3D- printed denture base and silicon-based soft lined was statistically significant, P-value ≤ 0.05, and the statistical analysis for the values of surface roughness before and after sandblasting revealed that the difference between the values was highly significant (P-value ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: Surface treatment of the 3D-printed denture with125 µm Al2O3 prior to the application of silicone-based soft-liner improves the surface roughness and enhances the tensile bond strength. This can decrease the possible failures that occur in the bond of soft-lined dentures.