Influence of the amount of tooth surface preparation on the shear bond strength of zirconia cantilever single-retainer resin-bonded fixed partial denture

PURPOSE. Conventional resin-bonded fixed partial dentures (RBFPDs) are usually made with a two-retainer design. Unlike conventional RBFPDs, cantilever resin-bonded fixed partial dentures (Cantilever RBFPDs) are, for their part, made with a single-retainer design. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of tooth surface preparation on the bond strength of zirconia cantilever single-retainer RBFPDs. The objective is to evaluate the shear bond strength of these single-retainer RBFPDs bonded on 3 different amount of tooth surface preparation. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Thirty extracted bovine incisors were categorized to 3 groups (n=10), with different amounts of tooth surface preparations. Teeth were restored with single-retainer RBFPDs with different retainer surfaces: large retainer of 32 mm(2); medium retainer of 22 mm(2); no retainer and only a proximal connecting box of 12 mm(2). All RBFPDs were made of zirconia and were bonded using an adhesive system without adhesive capacity. Shear forces were applied to these restorations until debonding. RESULTS. Mean shear bond strength values for the groups I, II, and II were 2.39 +/- 0.53 MPa, 3.13 +/- 0.69 MPa, and 5.40 +/- 0.96 MPa, respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using a one-way ANOVA test with Bonferroni post-hoc test, at a significance level of 0.001. Failure modes were observed and showed a 100% adhesive fracture. CONCLUSION. It can be concluded that the preparation of large tooth surface preparation might be irrelevant. For zirconia single-retainer RBFPD, only the preparation of a proximal connecting box seems to be a reliable and minimally invasive approach. The differences are statistically significant.