Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao
Chonnam National University, South Korea
Title: Evaluation of mechanical properties and cell response of glass infiltrated zirconia after sandblasting
Biography
Biography: Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao
Abstract
Zirconia surface modification techniques, especially, the glass infiltrated zirconia method is one of the most effective methods
of producing a composite with more desirable properties than the individual components. The aim of this in vitro study was to
evaluate the mechanical properties and initial cell response of glass infiltrated zirconia ceramics before and after sandblasting. One
hundred zirconia specimens were divided into the following 4 groups, according to the surface treatments: untreated zirconia (control),
sandblasted zirconia (S), glass infiltrated zirconia (G), and sandblasted glass infiltrated zirconia (GS). Surface roughness, biaxial
flexural strength, hardness, osteoblast cells attachment and proliferation were evaluated. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and
Tukey’s HSD pair-wise multiple comparisons were performed on all the tests. The GS group showed a slight decrease in hardness,
but revealed the improvement of flexural strength (686.2 MPa). After sandblasting, the GS group had the highest surface roughness
(Ra=1.24 μm) compared to the other groups, and supported an enhanced osteoblast cells response over the untreated zirconia. FESEM
images of the glass infiltrated zirconia surface microstructure showed a smooth surface before sandblasting. After sandblasting,
the new surface exhibited roughness with the formation of shallow irregularities. The results of this study indicated the beneficial
influence of graded structures in the design of zirconia implants. The glass infiltrating process could be used as a promising method
to enhance the mechanical properties with better surface roughness of zirconia implants for osteoblast cells response. Limitations of
this study are related to the experimental conditions which may differ from the actual clinical situation.