Effects of Lithium and Phosphorus on the Efficacy of a Liner for Increasing the Shear Bond Strength Between Lithium Disilicate and Zirconia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of the chemical formulation of liners on the shear bond strength (SBS) between lithium disilicate veneering ceramic and zirconia core.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four experimental groups (n = 12) were designed according to liner composition: negative control group (lithium and phosphorus removed from the conventional liner), Li group (lithium added to the negative control group), P group (phosphorus added to the negative control group), and Li+P group as the positive control (conventional liner). After applying the liner, lithium disilicate was pressed on zirconia. Specimens were stored in distilled water (37°C, 24 h) before testing the SBS. To test the SBS, shear force was applied perpendicular to the lithium disilicate-zirconia interface. The differences in the SBS between the veneer lithium disilicate and zirconia substructure were evaluated with one-way ANOVA (significance level of 0.05).

RESULTS: The presence or absence of lithium and phosphorus influenced the efficacy of the liner. The negative control and P groups showed mainly cohesive failures, and the Li group mainly showed mixed failures. Both adhesive and mixed failures were observed in the Li+P group. The groups including lithium showed significantly higher SBS than the negative control or Li+P group (p < 0.05). The group including phosphorus, which showed higher crystallinity, showed significantly lower SBS than the negative control and Li+P groups (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The differences in the composition of the liner can affect the wettability and reactivity, and as a result, the SBS was different.