Resumen de Light transmittance of zirconia as a function of thickness and microhardness of resin cements under different thicknesses of zirconia

Isil Cekic Nagas, Ferhan Egilmez, Gülfem Ergün, Bekir-Murat Kaya

• Objective: The objective of this study was to compare microhardness of resin cements under different thicknesses of zirconia and the light transmittance of zirconia as a function of thickness.

  Study design: A total of 126 disc-shaped specimens (2 mm in height and 5 mm in diameter) were prepared from dual-cured resin cements (RelyX Unicem, Panavia F and Clearfil SA cement). Photoactivation was performed by using quartz tungsten halogen and light emitting diode light curing units under different thicknesses of zirconia.

  Then the specimens (n=7/per group) were stored in dry conditions in total dark at 37°C for 24 h. The Vicker's hardness test was performed on the resin cement layer with a microhardness tester. Statistical significance was determined using multifactorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) (alpha=.05). Light transmittance of different thick - nesses of zirconia (0.3, 0.5 and 0.8 mm) was measured using a hand-held radiometer (Demetron, Kerr). Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA test (alpha=.05).

  Results: ANOVA revealed that resin cement and light curing unit had significant effects on microhardness (p < 0.001). Additionally, greater zirconia thickness resulted in lower transmittance. There was no correlation between the amount of light transmitted and microhardness of dual-cured resin cements (r = 0.073, p = 0.295).

  Conclusion: Although different zirconia thicknesses might result in insufficient light transmission, dual-cured resin cements under zirconia restorations could have adequate microhardness