Effect of Toothbrushing on a Monolithic Dental Zirconia Submitted to an Accelerated Hydrothermal Aging

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the biaxial flexural strength of monolithic 3Y-TZP ceramic specimens and (2) to assess their surface roughness after being submitted to accelerated hydrothermal aging (simulation 1-10 years of aging); and simulated toothbrushing (simulation 1-10 years of toothbrushing). Materials/Methods: 84 discs of monolithic zirconia (Lava Plus High Translucency Zirconia, 3M ESPE) were prepared, sintered (1450°C, 2h), and randomly allocated into four experimental groups as follows: Control group (CT): no HA and no toothbrushing; 1-year group (1YR): 20 minutes of HA and 10,000 cycles of toothbrushing; 5 years group (5 YR): 100 minutes of HA and 50,000 cycles of toothbrushing; and 10 years group (10 YR): 200 minutes of HA and 100,000 cycles of toothbrushing. Specimens were submitted to autoclave hydrothermal aging at 134°C and 2.0 bar, followed by toothbrush simulation. After aging, specimens in each group were submitted to the biaxial flexural strength test (ISO 6872) using a universal testing machine, and the number of fragments was evaluated. Surface roughness was performed before and after aging using a noncontact profilometer (Ra, Rq, and Rz parameters). For the statistics, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and pairwise comparison were used (α=0.05). Hypothesis: The accelerated hydrothermal aging and simulated toothbrushing will affect the results of the biaxial flexural strength and surface roughness of the zirconia specimens. Results: No significant aging effects were detected for the biaxial flexural strength (p=0.239) for groups CT (874.25±124.61 MPa), 1YR (869.56±132.60 MPa), 5YR (854.40±122.34 MPa), and 10YR (948.55±144.85 MPa). In addition, no significant aging effects were detected comparing the number of fragments, with a minimum of two and a maximum of five fragments (p=0.325). The collected data on the changes in surface roughness after hydrothermal aging and toothbrush simulation showed that for the parameters Ra and Rq, group 1YR presented significantly higher surface roughness than groups 5YR and 10YR. For the parameter Rz, group 1YR presented significantly higher surface roughness than groups 5YR and 10YR. In addition, group 5YR showed higher surface roughness than group 10YR. Conclusion: Hydrothermal aging associated with simulated toothbrushing did not significantly impact the biaxial flexural strength of monolithic 3Y-TZP zirconia. However, there was a significant initial increase in the zirconia surface roughness, which decreased after simulating five and ten years of aging.