Objectives: Five commercial dental silanes were evaluated in vitro as adhesion promoters bonding a luting cement to silica-coated titanium surfaces.
Methods: Titanium slides (n=20) were cleaned with alumina sand and then silica-coated with a special sand consisting of alumina particles coated with silica. The bonding of a resin composite cement (3M ESPE, Seefeld, Germany) to silica-coated and silanized titanium was evaluated by using the dental silane (RelyX Ceramic Primer) that belongs to the RelyX ARC cementing kit, and comparing it to four other dental silanes (Bisco Porcelain Primer, Cimara, ESPE Sil, and Pulpdent Silane Bond Enhancer). The resin composite cement stubs (n=8) were light-polymerized onto a silanized silica-coated titanium surface. The shear bond strength of the cement stubs was measured after dry storage and thermo-cycling 6000 times between 5 and 55 degrees C. The silanes and their reactions were chemically monitored by using Fourier transform infrared analysis.
Results: Statistical analysis using ANOVA revealed that the brand of silanes and the types of storage condition differ significantly (p<0.005). The highest shear bond strength was obtained with RelyX ceramic silane in dry conditions (19.5+/-4.3 MPa), and after thermo-cycling (16.6+/-3.5 MPa). The lowest results were obtained using Pulpdent Silane Bond Enhancer, in dry conditions (7.8+/-2.2 MPa), and after thermocycling (5.3+/-2.4 MPa). The analysis showed that silanes had different pH values. Some differences were detected between the silanes and their reactions.
Conclusions: Dental silanes provide different bonding strengths and have differences in their pH, solvent system and silane concentration.